Apple iPad Mini 2 back housing leaks, suggests no major design changes

We saw the leaked back panel of the Apple iPad 4 a while ago and now, the aluminum body of the upcoming iPad Mini successor has been spotted. Unsurprisingly, the back housing of the iPad Mini 2 does not suggest any major changes in the design and it looks like Apple is going to stick with the proven formula for its second-gen compact tablet.

If the leaked images are to be trusted, it is fairly easy to assume that Apple will be focusing improvements on the internals of the tablet, its software and hopefully an improved screen.




The iPad 2 might feature the Apple logo as an integral part of the rear casing rather than the printed logo as in the current iPad Mini back cover.
Unfortunately, there is no way to confirm the authenticity of the leaked images and we don’t have any official word from Apple at the moment. So, you might do well to keep your expectations down until we hear from a more reliable source.
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Android 4.3 rolling out for Galaxy S4 and One Google Play edition

The Google Play editions of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One are receiving an OTA update that will upgrade them to Android 4.3.
The update arrives merely a week after it was officially announced and started rolling out for the Nexus devices. In fact, many of the Nexus devices are still to receive the update, so you can say the Google Play editions are more or less on par with the Nexus devices in terms of receiving updates.

 

When Google announced the Google Play edition of the S4, they promised quick updated along with a stock Android experience. These are two of the main reasons to get these devices over their standard versions that come with OEM customizations and are bound to receive the 4.3 update much, much later.
The Android 4.3 update was announced last week at an event, alongside the new Nexus 7 tablet and the Chromecast media streaming device. Although not a major update, it brings features such as restricted user profiles (only on tablets), Bluetooth Low Energy profile, virtual surround sound, autocomplete for dialpad, improved keyboard, OpenGL ES 3.0 support and a handful of other things. You can find a list of Android 4.3 features here.
Over and above these features, the Android 4.3 update enables Bluetooth tethering on the Galaxy S4 and the IR port on the One.
You can check out our review of the Google Play edition Galaxy S4 and the One here and here, respectively.
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Strategy Analytics: Android had 80% market share in Q2

It’s safe to say that the Android OS has extended its dominance without any real competition from any other mobile operating systems out there. According to Strategy Analytics, Android has recorded a whopping 80% global market share during Q2, 2013.
The Google developed Android OS has accounted for 182.6 million out of the 229.6 million sold globally. Apple's iOS scored a 13.6% market share with 31.2 million iPhones and is in the second spot, while Windows Phone managed to grab the third place with a 3.9% share.

 

According to the report, Apple's iOS global market share is the lowest since Q2, 2010. However, the Cupertino giant still had a strong quarter with its overall shipments rising from 26 million over the same period last year. Android has seen a significant boost from the previous year, where 108.7 million Android devices were shipped.
The popular analytic firm also notes that the only way for Microsoft to increase its global market share is by charging less for the software licensing and by making its platform more competitive with Android eco-system.
It's worth noting that Strategy Analytics posted a similar report on the tablet market earlier this week, which contains numbers some way off the Canalys estimates from today.
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Canalys: Small tablets help Android to tablet market dominance

Following the research of Strategy Analytics from a couple of days ago now comes a report from Canalys who confirms Android’s lead in the tablet market.

 

Samsung, Amazon, Lenovo and Acer combined have sold nearly 12 million tablets. Add to that number the smaller companies and the white-box tablet manufacturers, and the overall Android tablets sold for the quarter reached 19.5 million units.




Apple has still managed to ship 14,6 million iPad and iPad mini tablets, taking 42.7% of the tablet market in Q2 2013. The shipments dropped by 14.2% compared to Q2 2012 when the company sold a bit over 17 million tablets and its market share contracted by 28.5 percent points.

 

The second quarter of the year saw the shipment of 34 million tablets, which is a 43% year-over-year increase. As a result, tablets now take a 31% chunk of the worldwide PC shipments pie. According to Canalys, 68% of the tablets shipped in Q2 are below 9″. We suspect the new Nexus 7 will continue Android’s tablet market push in Q3 as well.
It shuld be pointed out that the Canalys report differs quite a bit from the one of Strategy Analytics on the Android tablet shipments. According to them Android tablets boast a 67% market share with 34.6 million units sold out of the overall 51.7 million tablets that were shipped for the second quarter. We are not sure if SA includes some other manufacturers in its numbers, but it’s unlikely that they account for such huge numbers. It’s probably some difference in the methodology and one of the numbers is closer to the truth than the other.
In the end, one thing is certain – Apple’s iOS has been dethroned from its cozy seat at the top and now Android gets to enjoy it for a while. However, individual Android tablet makers still have a long way to go until they reach the success of Apple’s iPad line-up.
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Android in July: 4.1 JB now more popular than 2.3 Gingerbread

The Android masses are getting younger – the OS versions we mean. In the month of July, v4.1 Jelly Bean has at long last dethroned Gingerbread as the single most popular Android OS release. In June Jelly Bean beat Gingerbread, but that was only if you added the two JB branches (4.1 and 4.2).

 

Basically what happened in July was Ice Cream Sandwich, Gingerbread and the older versions combined shed about a percentage each, to the benefit of Jelly Bean 4.1 and 4.2. The newest version, Jelly Bean 4.3 has yet to make a mark but it was only announced at the end of July. Still, with the Nexus 7 2 launching immediately with the announcement, v4.3 will probably have something to show next month.
The adoption of Jelly Bean 4.2 seems to be slowing a bit though. In May it was 4%, then jumped to 5.6% in June and now it's at 6.5%. It will probably climb higher as makers push out their 4.2 updates, but with 4.3 already on the roadmaps it probably won't get very high.
There's a lot of talk of Android fragmentation, but with Google slowing down the release schedule (4.3 was supposed to be out months ago at I/O) and pushing out only relatively small updates (which will allow makers to catch up quicker), we might be seeing the beginning of Android's unification.
Note that Google is not slowing down the release of new features, the company is just doing it through apps. Google recently moved the malicious app scanning function to the Play Store app so that even Gingerbread devices can use it, the Play Games is an app, not a native OS feature and so on.

Developer offered payment to astroturf for Samsung on Stack Overflow

Samsung has once again managed to get itself caught in a bit of astroturfing related controversy. The last time, it was found that Samsung had paid some students to trashtalk HTC online. This time, a PR agency representing Samsung tried to pay a developer to astroturf on behalf of Samsung.

 

The developer in question, Delyan Kratunov, received an email from a John Yoon working for the company Fllu. Yoon’s request was that Kratunov help promote the Samsung Smart App Challenge for a payment but what was required for Kratunov to do wasn’t exactly ethical.



Krutunov was required to post four questions on the developer forum Stack Overflow. The questions needed to be “organic and casual”, along the likes of “Anyone know anything about SSAC?” and “Need some feedback on the app I am about to enter for the Samsung Smart App Challenge.” This is clearly asking Krutunov to fake innocence and interest in the Samsung Smart App Challenge, which constitutes astroturfing. Krutunov was offered $500 to do this by the company.
When Krutunov went public with this, James Yoo, Director of Operations for Fllu, flat out denied being associated with Samsung and purchasing Stack Overflow users. Krutunov also later received an email that retracted the offer previously made.
The Verge independently confirmed that the email headers from the ones Krutunov received match the ones that originate from the company Fllu, the confirming that they did contact Krutunov with the offer but later retracted when he went public.
Astroturfing is nothing new and has become one of the bane of the internet, particularly due to the anonymity it affords its users. Many big companies have been found doing it in the past, including the likes of Microsoft. Rarely do these companies are caught red handed doing this, however, as most people choose to accept the offer rather than going public with it. This is the second fiasco for Samsung this week after having caught rigging benchmark scores by selectively boosting the processor on the Galaxy S4. The company is yet to comment on this new situation.

Facebook brings Cover Feed to Android app, makes Facebook Home seem even more pointless

Facebook has released a new update for their Android app, which brings one of the key features of the ill-fated Facebook Home app. Now, through an option in the settings menu, you can enable the Cover Feed feature on your Android device, without having to install Facebook Home app.

If you are not aware, Cover Feed takes over the lockscreen on your Android device with a custom lockscreen that plays a slideshow of your friends’ Facebook photos in the background underneath the unlock button. While it sounds great in theory, actually having all your friends’ photos appear on your lockscreen isn’t such a great idea as most of the time the photos aren’t as good as you’d like them to be (not with my friends, at least).
Cover Feed, along with Chat Heads, was one of the key features of Facebook Home. Now, you can have both without actually installing that app (Chat Heads are available through the Facebook Messenger app). This means now you have even fewer reasons to install Facebook Home, and there weren’t many to begin with.
There is a catch, however. Just like the Facebook Home app, the Cover Feed feature only works on select Android devices as of now. The list currently includes Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy S III, Samsung Galaxy Note II, Nexus 4, HTC One X, HTC One X+ and HTC One. More devices should be added in future.
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Motorola Moto X gets a trio of promo videos

Motorola has just unleashed its Moto X flagship smartphone and, as tradition dictates, the announcement was accompanied by the release of a few promo videos.

 

The Moto X got a trio of clips – the first two focus on its unique software features, while the third one is dedicated to its Moto Maker customization software.



The first 30 second clip is all about the always-on voice commands, which don’t even require the Moto X to be unlocked to work.

 Next comes the Quick Draw promo, showing you how you can unlock the smartphone and launch its camera by simply flicking your wrist.

Finally, there’s the Moto Maker video – it’s the longest of the set, but that’s because there are so many options to go through.

Motorola Moto X goes live with X8 chipset, 4.7" AMOLED screen

Motorola has officially taken the wraps off the Moto X - the first phone that has been entirely developed under the supervision of Google. It's also the company's first phone in a while to be fully assembled in the USA.
The Motorola Moto X is build around a 4.7" AMOLED display with full RGB matrix and 720p resolution. This results in a pixel density of 316 ppi. The screen is protected by a new type of Gorilla Glass, which is dubbed Magic Glass due to its curves towards the edges of the phone.

On the inside, the Motorola Moto X features a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset with dual 1.7GHz Krait cores, Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB of RAM. Internal storage is 16GB or 32GB depending on the version you choose but there's no card slot for further expansion. Just like the latest DROID line-up, the Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset is part of the Motorola X8 board, which also includes a natural language processor and contextual computing processor.
The Moto X camera has a 10MP sensor and uses the ClearPixel technology for superior low-light performance. Every other green portion of the Bayer filter array, which sits in front of the image sensor, is replaced by a clear one, allowing more light to reach the sensor.
On the software side, the camera offers HDR, burst shots and panorama. The Moto X can also shoot full HD videos at 30fps and there are features like face detection and geo-tagging on board. At the front, there's a 2MP camera capable of 1080p video recording that serves for video-chatting purposes.
Motorola has gone great lengths to make the Moto X a truly customizable phone. Customers can choose whether the front panel to be black or white, as well as the color of the back panel from 18 options. There's also a third customizable area called accent - it covers the camera rim and side buttons. Further customization includes adding a name or short message on the back of the phone as choosing a Google account and wallpaper to come preinstalled on the device.
The Motorola Moto X runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, which at first glance looks as clean as stock, but Motorola has added a few touches of its own. One of them is the Active Display feature, which makes use of the OLED screen and brings a snippet of information (the time, new messages and voicemail) on a blank black screen. Think of it as an Android version of Nokia's Glance Screen feature.
Motorola has also preinstalled a transfer app called Migrate. It allows you to transfer your photos, videos, SIM contacts and even call and text history from any Android phone running Android 2.2 or higher.
Because of the curved back, the Motorola Moto X thickness varies from 5.6 to 10.4mm. The phone has a pretty decent footprint for its 4.7" display - 129.3 x 65.3mm with a weight of the very acceptable 130 grams.
Below the customizable back panel sits a 2200mAh battery, which Motorola rates at 13 hours of 3G talk time and up to 24 hours of mixed usage endurance.
The Motorola Moto X a will be available on the five largest carriers in the USA - AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and US Cellular. It will cost $200 for the 16GB version and $250 for the 32GB units, both with a two-year contract.

Google to start selling the Moto X on the Play Store, too

Yesterday, Motorola finally announced the Moto X, which will soon go on sale in the US on all the major carriers on a contract. However, Google has now announced that you will also be able to purchase the Moto X from the Play Store as well

 

The Google Play edition of the Moto X will be similar to the Galaxy S4 and the HTC One, where it would come with a stock version of Android. Although the Moto X does have relatively stock Android even on carrier branded models, it does come with the usual carrier bloatware, along with some of Motorola's customizations, such as the always-on voice feature, shake to start camera and the active lockscreen.
Although Motorola promised quick updates to the Moto X, the Google Play edition will get them even quicker since they don't have to go through the carrier before being pushed to your device.
Just like the GPe of the S4 and the One, the Moto X will also be sold unlocked and at full price. The exact price is not yet known as of now, nor is the actual date when the phone will be available on the Play Store, but considering the specs of the device, you can expect a price of around $299 for the 16GB model. It's unlikely though that Google would offer the Moto X in any other color option other than the standard black and white.
You can check out our hands-on with the Moto X here.
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The Moto X Customizations are Simply WOW: Rosewood, Bamboo, Teak and What Not

Many years ago, when the inventor of the first PC mouse used wood to design the product, the whole concept seemed to be atrocious. The Moto X looks to take inspiration from the same and has come up with some unique design customization options. Its as if Motorola are saying that if you have the fabric and material, we have a back panel for you. Some months ago, Motorola had promised us that it will deliver a phone that is completely customizable and completely manufactured in the U.S.


This could probably be one of the rare phones that can actually make it big without having a great hardware. With the customizations included in the Moto X, Google sends out a loud and clear message, “The number of cores do not matter, the phone being yours does!”.
There are different forms of customizations that a customer may be able to do while ordering the device. With the help of a swanky looking site called the “MotoMaker”, a person can chose the Moto X customizations to suit his needs.

Colours:

 

 

The new Moto X will be available in as many as 18 different colours. You had that right, 18! However, at the time of the launch, only 2 colours, that is black and white will be available. These colours also include 6 ascent colours.

Back Panel Material:

If there is something that has got us intrigues, it has to be this aspect of the new Moto X. The Moto X is truly custom made, if you can personalise your home screen, your clothes, your make up and even your shoes, so why shall the back cover of your phone be similar to the millions of other phones? With the use of many different, yet unique materials like wood, Motorola is all set to start a new trend.
Wait! Did we just say Wood? Well yeah! The use of wood has actually been achieved and was up for display as a prototype device at the press event. Materials like Rosewood, Teak and even Bamboo are in the works. Don’t believe us? Have a look at the pictures

image courtsey: DroidLife

image courtsey: AndroidCentral

Engravings and Accessories:

Not only do you get an option to choose from the wide list of products mentioned above, Moto X customizations allow you to personalize your device to the extent of which you can ask for custom engravings to be done on the back panel. This along with a customised wallpaper can be ordered as per your will.
They even announced a partnership with popular brands that will make accessories especially for the Moto X.
Since the manufacturing plants are in the U.S itself, Motorola promises that it may take a maximum of 4 days per device customization. What if you spend all this time customizing it only to find you don’t like your colour combo when it arrives? Motorola gives you 14 days to return it or get a new design, no questions asked.
A TOTAL OF 2000 DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS AND PERMUTATIONS IS POSSIBLE!

You can get in Usain Bolt’s boots in Temple Run 2, available as an in-app purchase

Temple Run franchise is one of the most popular arcade running games in the market beyond any shadow of doubt. The different avatars in the game, which lets you run through the temple streets trying to escape the horde of monkeys in the original Temple Run or the giant ape as in the Temple Run 2 is the main mojo of the game.

Imangi Studios, the developers of the game have now introduced a new character – namely the one of the sprinter Usain Bolt, two times Olympic gold medalist, in its Temple Run 2 game play in an attempt to promote its game.
The fastest man on the planet is available for a limited time for 99 cents as an in-app purchase and the character comes with a special ability – the electric bolt shield, which turns on the boost as well as the coin magnet.
Temple Run 2 is available on Android, iOS and Amazon Kindle Fire and can be downloaded from their respective app stores.
Source

BlackBerry 10.1 MR Already Rolling Out In UK

 

And they're off! Start hitting that "Check for updates" button folks, as EE have already released the BlackBerry 10.1 MR update in the UK.

The update (10.1.0.4181) was released last night, so you should be able to download it right now if you're on the EE, Orange or T-mobile network.

If you're on another network in the UK, don't despair as the UK networks are usually quite quick.

See what's new in 10.1 MR

BlackBerry Q5 Coming To Several Canadian Carriers On August 13th

 

When we first got a glimpse of the BlackBerry Q5 back in May, it was made clear that North America wasn't in the plans for this "emerging market" device. Earlier this week, BlackBerry surprised many people by announcing that the BlackBerry Q5 would be available on Bell, Fido, Koodo, Sasktel, TELUS, and Virgin Mobile Canada effective August 13th. Sadly, it seems that Rogers has been left out.

There will be two colour models in Canada - Black and Pure Red - with the latter being a Virgin Mobile exclusive. Pricing is unconfirmed at this time, but you can expect to see the Q5 arrive at a $300-350 outright price.

 

BlackBerry Q5 Smartphone Launches in Canada

WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - July 30, 2013) -
BlackBerry® (NASDAQ:BBRY)(TSX:BB) today announced that the newest BlackBerry® 10 smartphone, the BlackBerry® Q5 smartphone, will arrive in Canada on August 13, 2013. The new smartphone will be available from authorized partners Bell, Fido, Koodo, Sasktel, TELUS, and Virgin Mobile Canada, as well as retail stores Best Buy Canada, Future Shop, Target, TBooth Wireless, The Mobile Shop, The Source, Walmart, and WIRELESSWAVE, across the country.
The BlackBerry Q5 smartphone features a QWERTY keyboard in a stunning, youthful design that radiates confidence. With its dual core 1.2GHz processor, vibrant touchscreen and 4G/LTE network support, the BlackBerry Q5 smartphone offers a smooth, fast and rich browsing experience. Its messaging and social networking features enable customers to have fun, create, share and stay connected, while on the move.
Available in two colour models in Canada - Black and Pure Red* - the BlackBerry Q5 smartphone offers a powerful and unique mobile computing experience with its cutting-edge BlackBerry 10 functionality. Features and apps work seamlessly together, allowing customers to flow easily from one activity to the next. With its classic QWERTY keyboard re-engineered for optimized typing and its 3.1" touchscreen, the BlackBerry Q5 smartphone gives you the best of both worlds.
Andrew MacLeod, Managing Director for Canada at BlackBerry said, "Canada is our home, and bringing the BlackBerry Q5 smartphone here is a testament to our strong partner support and ongoing commitment to delivering innovative technologies that enable Canadian enterprises and consumers to improve how they connect and communicate."
Offering superior business productivity features, market-leading enterprise security and a fast, effortless experience, the BlackBerry Q5 smartphone is a perfect mobility solution for any Canadian organization. For enterprise customers who want to upgrade to BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry® Enterprise Service 10, the BlackBerry Q5 smartphone is a powerful and cost-effective device to roll out across any organization.
The BlackBerry Q5 smartphone comes with BlackBerry 10 version 10.1. As part of the BlackBerry 10 experience, a peek into the BlackBerry® Hub lets you stay close to what's important to you without stopping what you're doing. Create the perfect shot every time with the camera Time Shift mode, tell your story using BlackBerry® Story Maker, and instantly share updates with friends on Facebook® and Twitter®. Use BBM™ Video with Screen Share to connect with contacts**, and visit the BlackBerry® World™ storefront to discover the more than 120,000 available apps.
For more information on the BlackBerry Q5 smartphone, please visit http://ca.blackberry.com/
* The Pure Red model available from Virgin Mobile Canada.
** Compatible BlackBerry 10 smartphones, Wi-Fi, 4G or HSPA+ connection required. Additional restrictions apply, visit blackberry.com for details.
About BlackBerry
A global leader in wireless innovation, BlackBerry® revolutionized the mobile industry when it was introduced in 1999. Today, BlackBerry aims to inspire the success of our millions of customers around the world by continuously pushing the boundaries of mobile experiences. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry operates offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. BlackBerry is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ:BBRY) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:BB). For more information, visitwww.blackberry.com
Forward-looking statements in this news release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used herein, words such as "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "should", "intend", "believe", and similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by BlackBerry Limited in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that BlackBerry believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Many factors could cause BlackBerry's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those described in the "Risk Factors" section of BlackBerry's Annual Information Form, which is included in its Annual Report on Form 40-F (copies of which filings may be obtained at www.sedar.com orwww.sec.gov). These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on BlackBerry's forward-looking statements. BlackBerry has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
BlackBerry and related trademarks, names and logos are the property of BlackBerry Limited and are registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services.

Front panel and innards of the iPhone 5C

Hours after the purported camera module of the cheaper Apple iPhone 5C got snapped, now photos of the phone's display and framing have surfaced.

 

Said parts of the rumored cheaper iPhone 5C have been leaked by a company called Chinese C Technology. It claims that there are minor differences between the iPhone 5 and the device they claim is the affordable iPhone 5C. The inside wiring is one of them, in addition to the all-plastic build.


We've already seen the plastic casing of the iPhone 5C on video as well as the different color variations that allegedly Apple is going to launch it in. Naturally, if you've been following the topic, you've also seen a lot more leaks regarding the low-cost Apple smartphone, as well as renders showing how it would look like based on the information available.

 

Naturally, there is no official confirmation from Apple just yet. Even worse, Apple has repeatedly denied that it's working on a more affordable iPhone, so you'll have to judge for yourself whether the leaks and reports are to be believed.
Source | Via

Official Android 4.2.2 ROM for Samsung Galaxy S II Plus

We already know that Android 4.2 Jelly Bean upgrade will be the last major update for the Samsung Galaxy S II and Galaxy S II smartphones. But the good news is the wait is almost over and Samsung might soon start seeding the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update for the Galaxy S II Plus. What's more an official (if probably not final) ROM has been leaked and if you are really impatient you can flash it right now.

 

The ROM is based on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and has a built date July 24. Unfortunately, there is no change log available at the moment, nor a list of what issues (if any) it has. Still, early adopters mention launcher, weather widget and lock screen from the Samsung Galaxy S4 and a slightly smoother performance.
Unfortunately, the multi-window feature is still not available for the Samsung Galaxy S II Plus users. Samsung will start rolling out the official update in the coming days and Germany will be the first region to get the taste of Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
Meanwhile, if you are in a hurry to check out the Android 4.2.2 on your Galaxy S II Plus smartphones, then the firmware is available in the source link below.
As a reminder, flashing process involves some risk and would void your warranty. So, please continue with the instructions only if you are sure about what you are doing.
Source

Giveaway: Win A Custom Color Paint Job By ColorWare For Your BlackBerry Z10/Q10!

 

Have you ever wanted to customize your BlackBerry with your favorite colors? ColorWare can make that all possible with their custom color painting service for your BlackBerry Q10 or Z10. ColorWare products are creative and fashionable, giving their customers something unique that sets them apart from all the rest. They offer their services for both the BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 at only $249 per custom painting. A small price to pay to give yourself a unique phone!

Contest: We've teamed up with ColorWare to offer BlackBerryOS readers a chance to win a free custom colored paint job (value $249) for your BlackBerry Z10 or Q10!

Want to have a chance at being that lucky winner? Enter the ColorWare contest now! 

BBM for Android Starts sending out Invites to Beta Testers

And BOOM! Just like that, the moment many ex BlackBerry users had been waiting for is finally here. Several reports are now claiming that they are getting Emails for beta testing the new BBM for Android.


The news comes as a welcome surprise to many as they had been anticipating this moment ever since BlackBerry first officially confirmed the same. The picture above shows that BlackBerry has set the process rolling by sending out Email invites to be Beta testers. Not every one who had subscribed to be be beta testers have received such Emails. If you were one of the many who had previously subscribed to be informed when the app releases, we strongly recommend you guys to check your mails.
The date for official release is still expected to be around the the end of summer. This means the by September end you may be seeing the official launch on the play store. This news has certainly got us all excited! What about you?
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Samsung Caught Boosting International Galaxy S4 Benchmarks

Samsung recently came out with a new version of the popular Galaxy S4 for international markets. The updated phone, powered by a new processor, boasted of amazing performance, almost seeming unrealistic. Powered by a new Exynos 5 Octa system on a chip, the international version of Samsung’s Galaxy S4 performed impressively in benchmark tests — a graphical processing unit that runs at 532 megahertz and a central processing unit that tops out at 1.2GHz.

 

However, Samsung got caught in a lie about the performance of the new phone after basically gaming a piece of software to show the phone as faster than it actually is.
When people over at AnandTech started sifting through data for two Exynos octacore variants of the Galaxy S 4, they discovered that multiple benchmarks that appear to run those devices at higher CPU and GPU clock speeds than they normally run. Some of the apps included in the report are GLBench 2.5.1, AnTuTu, Quadrant and Linpack. Incidentally, they also found a string of code called ‘Benchmark Booster’ that apparently allowed the international Galaxy S4 to trick the benchmarking software into reporting higher speeds. The encoded ‘Benchmark Booster’ pulled this off by allowing the phone to operate at speeds no real world user or app would ever have access to.

 

Samsung has created within the Exynos 5 Octa-based Galaxy S4 a white list for certain benchmarking apps that allows them — and only them — to take advantage of the full power of the chipset. When the device detects that a white-listed benchmark app is running, it shifts into a high-performance mode not available to ‘real world’ applications.
In other words, Samsung has optimized the Galaxy S4 to perform better in the lab than it does in the real world, enabling full-speed GPU performance only while running specific benchmarks, and maxing out CPU performance, as well.
What Samsung needs to do going forward, is either open up these settings for all users or applications (offer a configurable setting that fixes the CPU governor in a high performance mode, and unlocks the 532MHz GPU frequency) or remove the optimization altogether. However, it’s interesting to note that Samsung refused to comment to reporters on the scandal.

Expected Rumors for the next-generation iPhone

The iPhone 5S is expected to be the next expected iPhone device, after the iPhone 5. It would be quite similar to its predecessor but nonetheless without extra internal features. Let us see what all is in store for us.

EXPECTED (CONFIRMED) FEATURES

• Support for 4G LTE-advance networks.
• May sport a quad-core graphics processor (preferably a 554 MP4).
• A 12/13 MP back camera with dual LED flash.
• A 5.92 WHr battery, a slightly big upgrade.
• iOS 7, instantly expected due to its previous launch. 

 

EXPECTED (UNCONFIRMED) FEATURES

• NFC expected, solely for the reason for the implementation of Passbook.
• A quad-core processor, highly unlikely seeing the power of the dual-core one.
• Reduced pricing strategies, getting toppled to the second most profitable phone seller.
• A Super HD screen display with a resolution of 1080p.
• A slightly different exterior casing.

Apart from these standard features, a rare rumour of a fingerprint reader/scanner is coming up which could be installed right into the home button. But although due to these tough rumours, we don’t believe that this could be a feature in the next iPhone, as Apple is not known to cram things into small spaces (pun intended).

Facebook Now Allows You To Embed Public Posts

inShare
In an effort to increase post interactions, Facebook has announced the launch of a new feature. Facebook, will now start allowing people to share posts that are set to “public”, in an embedded form. Following the likes of YouTube and Twitter, a person can now link, share and embed posts onto any webpage by simple copy pasting an HTML code. This just like how you would embed a tweet or a YouTube video. There had been many waiting for this opportunity and Facebook post embed answers them well.

 “Facebook launched the embed feature by embedding this picture in its official announcement’

Image is a post by the British Monarchy

Analyst conclude that this is a direct move by Facebook to bring the Social networking site into the public. This would essentially boos interaction with the help of blogs and websites that will very soon be able to embed such posts. This feature can only be used in the posts with privacy settings set to “public”.
DID YOU KNOW: A whooping 72% people on Facebook share posts privately!

How will it benefit Facebook?

1. Exposure: This particular feature will help the social networking giant to further increase its strong hold over the internet. The more that people share and link, the more exposure Facebook gets.
2. Interaction: There are many occasions where we miss out on posts or announcements on a page that you have liked. This not only is a loss for the brand managers on Facebook but also for Facebook itself. The introduction of embedded posts give it even more exposure, thus increasing interactions like liking and sharing.
3. Bring in the moolah with ADs: Advertisers go where they get exposure. Advertisers looking to reach people during live events, like the Super Bowl or the Oscars will find this very useful to build on their fan base.

It should be noted that this is not Facebook’s first attempt to get posts and people closer together. Recently they launched clickable Hashtags with a similar intent. It surely will be an interesting feature to bring in. Most brand and page managers will be welcoming this with wide outstretched arms.

iOS 7 Jailbreak Achieved: Developer Tweets Bout The Same

iOS 7 jailbreak has been achieved. Even though in its infancy stages, a tweet by a famous developer from the jailbreak community, tweeted a picture of an iPod 5 with iOS 7 that had Activator seem to be running on it. Now activator is a famous iOS cydia teak that can only be installed if your devices is jailbroken.

Ever since the launch of Apple’s “revamped” iOS, the media went all out to criticize the next iteration. iOS 7 is something that Apple claims to be, “The best thing to happen to the iPhone since the iPhone itself.” Launched in all its glory some weeks ago, Apple released the beta version to registered developers. Soon people all over the world with developer accounts began downloading the same. iOS 7 however, did not go down well with people who found the new icons to be to flashy.The new UI was called a rip off of Android and questions on the ability to innovate was questioned yet again. It has been some time now and people have begun to accept that this is what iOS is going to be like. But this is not how your iOS should look like. Like every year, this year too many developers will be working to achieve a jailbreak and work on it has apparently begun. In fact a famous a developer and a known name in the jailbreak community, Ryan Petritch already claims to have jailbroken the Beta 2 of iOS 7. That’s right, there may already be an iOS 7 Jailbreak out there. The details of the same however, are yet to be disclosed.



The iOS 7 jailbreak that the developer tweeted shows an image of an error given by activator saying that the version in use (iOS 7) is “too new” for it to be compatible with. The jailbreak is not currently made available to the public as it needs a lot more tweaking and fuixes and is very beta. Be rest assured that no jailbreak will be released until a stable version of iOS 7 makes its way out onto your iDSevice. While iOS 7 Jailbreak is still in its infancy it does crush Apple’s hope of an un jailbreakable version of it OS.

[Breaking] EA Hikes Game Prices in India!

There have been many rumors going around the internet this last few months, regarding the significant price hike of Electronics Arts games in India. Many Indian average PC gamers were hoping and praying that this should not be true. I came home from work last night and saw loads of notifications on Facebook. Curious at first, I soon came to realized the truth. All EA’s flagship games are on pre order! There was no controlling me from going on an buy-em-all spree..until I clicked on the link.

Many online resellers like Game4u , Flipkart have placed EA’s latest upcoming games for pre-order. It seems like that the rumors were true. Most of the gamers were happy to see it on preorders and many of them got shocked to see the price of the games like Battlefield 4, Need for speed and Fifa 14.

New prices are as follows:

Battlefield 4 – 3499 INR
Need for Speed Rivals- 3499 INR
Fifa 2014 – 2499 INR


Expect to see a similar price tag on more upcoming EA titles.
As you can see , the prices of the games is almost triple the amount before the hike. EA was looking to increase the price and make is equal to the international price. People tried to buy games from Indian origin websites through some proxies with significantly less price. There was no protection implemented against it. Thus, EA was suffering major loss.


This was going to happen anyway as there was increase in dollar price. But no one knew that the amount would be triple the amount they were used to pay. Most of the Indian PC gamer audience is unhappy with unfair pricing. You might just say that the pricing is fair as gamers in other countries pay 60$ for a game. But you have to understand low priced PC games is the reason why Indian gamer was so insisting of building himself a Gaming PC. Major part of the Indian gaming community own PC’s. PC hardware costs more in Indian market. So investment in the gaming PC might be more than console, but you have to look at the future point of view. You were better off buying a decent Next-gen gaming PC with better configuration compared to a console and spend less to buy PC games which were not only less expensive but much more advanced in graphics quality.

You will stumble upon quotes like this -

“Now that the game pricing is same, gamers might be better off with consoles as there are much better console exclusive goodness.”

If you were to head over to the Indian gaming communities on facebook or various forums, Gamers are really unhappy with EA right now. You will even see hordes of new topics related to this all over facebook pages, peoples timelines etc. Many fans have even decided not to pre-order their favorite sequels.


Of course gamers won’t be happy to pay triple the amount they used to pay before. Changing price from 20$ to 60$ is major step which might just go against EA sooner or later. 1700INR or 1800INR was a reasonable price tag to opt for. EA should have made some security arrangements in order to reduce losses from other countries. Changing regional pricing policy won’t be accepted if the difference is so huge. Many other big names such as Ubisoft have already increased their price tag on games due to this.  Watch dogs which was priced 999INR for pre-order, is now available for 1500INR. It will be interesting to see how these games will sell in India after this price hike.

What do you think about this sudden price hike? Would you rather pre-order right now to get your gaming titles for cheaper? Let us know in the comments below!

Samsung Galaxy S4 Shipments Surpass 20 Million in 2 months

Only a few weeks back, on May 23, 2013, Samsung announced that the Samsung Galaxy S4 shipments through global channels had crossed the 10 million mark, and now reports all over the Internet suggest that in just a little over a month, the company managed to double that number.


Overseas reports are indicating that Samsung has shipped a total of 20 million Galaxy S4 devices to their global partners. J.K. Shin, Samsung’s CEO, confirmed this figure to reporters in Korea and that Samsung has achieved this milestone within 2 months. Note that this number is not total sales to customers, but specifically to carriers and retailers around the world.



Its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S III took about 100 days to get to 20 million, so the galaxy S4 is selling 1.7 times faster. This speed reportedly put the Galaxy S4 at the #1 position in shipments for Q2 this year. Despite reports (which were denied) of Samsung cutting down orders for Galaxy S4 parts, the company’s flagship is selling very well.

The Korean firm’s future calculations may get a little fragmented, however, since it has launched a number of Galaxy S4 variants like the Galaxy S4 Zoom, Mini, LTE-A, and Active to extend the reach and appeal of the device to new customer segments.



Source: SamMobile

Facebook Stickers Launched For Desktop Website

[banner]Stickers- Those unavoidable, adorable, cute emoticons we have all been drooling over for the last few weeks? The popular emoting feature which was available on Facebook’s iOS and Android apps alone until very recently, are also available in desktop chat now. Facebook announced the arrival of stickers on Tuesday, with a message popping up in the chat module that users can now attach a fun sticker to their conversation.


“To send stickers, tap the smiley icon in your message; scroll across the top of the sticker window to find the pack you want to use and tap the sticker you want to instantly send,” a spokesperson for the company says in an email. Users can also easily visit the sticker store by tapping  the basket icon to access other sets of stickers, including the Despicable Me 2 stickers Facebook recently released. Last week, Facebook launched some new stickers based on Mark Zuckerberg’s dog, Beast. All Facebook stickers are currently free.




Stickers debuted on Facebook and Facebook Messenger apps for iOS and Android alongside chatheads, in the spring. However, this is the first time that the adorable emojis have appeared on the desktop website officially. A Google Chrome and Firefox extension called as Facemoji was launched to fulfil the purpose a few weeks back.



Image courtesy: Facebook

3 Android apps to Learn HTML5

You want to learn to work with HTML5 to boast of another line in your skill set?  Too proud to ask someone to teach you? Well. It isn’t really required either. Here are 3 wonderful Android Apps to learn HTML5.

1. Learn HTML5

Created for a thesis about interactive textbooks for Internet technologies, this educational app is easy to use, and ideal for beginners. Listing all the elements used in the HTML5 Explanation as well as presenting tests in statistical tables adds to the user-friendly nature. Popular among users, it’s scored an average of 4.7 stars out of 5 on Google Play.

Download Here

2. HTML5 & PHP

‘Another useful  tutorial for those new to HTML5. This handy app helps you learn the new upgrade via the various tags associated with HTML5 and PHP. This is a particularly useful app for those just starting out as it allows users to attach notes. You can also access all content offline, for those pesky times when you’re out of wireless reach.

Download Here

3. HTML WAGmob

If you’re completely new to HTML5 you can’t go past WAGmob’s handy app. Featuring flash cards and quizzes alongside tutorials, WAGmob provides easy tips and lessons designed to accompany the HTML5 guidebook. With an average rating of 4.2 from Google play users this is definitely one app to invest in if you’re looking to get to grips with HTML5. Available for Android.

The world of computer language development can be a difficult one to navigate but armed with one of these easy to use guides you’ll be a master of HTML5 in no time!

Download here

With Consoles Getting Better Every Day, Should You Still Buy New PC Games?

Even the most powerful games console cannot match the technical specifications of a high-end PC. Perhaps it is the continued evolution of consoles which is contributing to developers making huge efforts with their PC releases. The continued high quality of many of today’s PC games titles has led to an increase in sales for the platform and once again opened up the classic argument over whether to buy your games brand new or wait for a second-hand copy. While both have their advantages, there are many more compelling reasons to purchase a shiny new game than a used one.

Enticing Purchase Price

Unlike new releases for consoles such as the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, brand new titles released on the PC platform are usually very competitively priced. This eliminates the need to search out a second-hand copy simply because you can’t afford the price of a new one. Gamers with consoles actively seek out used games because the prices of new releases are often so high to begin with. Luckily for PC gamers, this is often not the case.

Activation Codes

Many PC games require activation codes and the physical act of registering the game before play can commence. When purchasing a second-hand PC game, you can never be sure that the previous owner has noted the activation code and left in in the box. Often, even if you have the code, it is still not possible to play the game as it may have been registered and locked to another machine. Games such as the World of Warcraft series are account driven and, as such, can only be played on the machine the game was originally registered to. Of course, buying your game brand new eliminates any chance of these problems occurring.

Legal Downloads

With a large number of today’s best PC games available for legal download straight on to your machine, what is the point of holding out for a second-hand physical copy? The downloadable versions of these games are cheaper in price anyway, making the purchase of a used game rather unnecessary and not financially viable. Today, buying a new PC game is now easier than ever before.

Personal Satisfaction

The build-up to a highly anticipated new game release can be an exciting time. You have kept up to date with the game’s development from the beginning and have carefully read all of the advanced reviews. Now, you just have to patiently await release day. When that date finally rolls around, there is nothing quite like the personal satisfaction of knowing you are amongst the first to get your hands on a copy. With so many superb titles now being released on the PC platform, those red-letter days are becoming ever-more frequent and long may they continue.

Steve Gladwin is a seasoned writer who has been an avid player of video games for many years, particularly on the PC platform. He describes buying a new PC game as one of his greatest pleasures.

[App Review] Floating Notifications

Pop notifications have been around since sometime now and we’re here to tell you about a fun way to completely change how you interact with incoming Notifications on your Android with, Floating Notifications.

Just recently Facebook came up with round-creative idea for pop-up notifications (they quite literally popped the hell out of the screen). “Chatheads” were formerly meant to be a part of the Facebook Home launcher but they later went on to integrate it with the Facebook Messenger application. For the all the late-comers, Chatheads are small circle which pop-up everytime you get a Facebook message, you simply hit the Chathead for the message space to pop-down for you to reply back, without even opening the app.


Paranoid Android, a renowned developer for the AOSP, soon adopted this feature in their ROM calling it “Halo”. In the early release, “Halo” wasn’t nearly as promising as Chatheads. Although, with time, PA very recently released the developed iteration of “Halo”. The new one looks very stable and has a lot more functionality to it, for eg. Smoother and optimized multitasking across several applications.

Which brings us to Floating Notifications, there is a recent app developed which implements this Halo feature called Floating notifications. This app enables you to check your notifications for IMs and also lets you assign shortcuts to Apps.

Layout

Layout of the app is tabular and simple. A picture below shows you App notifications, customize and settings tab. It will let you be the king here and customize the size, theme color and shortcuts too.




The app is new and frankly has some visual bugs which are evident but will be fixed in later updates. Positively, Floating Notifications is a really good app, snappy interface and style. We recommend you to definitely check this floating application!.

PS: There is some trouble with TTS Accessibility in Samsung phones. This app is available in play store as trial and paid version

LINK: FLOATING NOTIFICATION