The successor to Samsung Galaxy Win I8550, which was launched in India as the Galaxy Grand Quattro, is listed on Samsung Mobiles' China portal (above image translated via Google Translate). So far, there has been no official announcement by the company, and availability and price remain unknown, though most specifications are featured on the listing.
The Samsung Galaxy Win Pro is a dual-SIM (WCDMA+GSM) smartphone that runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. It is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, but the memory and storage capacity are not mentioned by the company.
The Galaxy Win Pro flaunts higher resolution but smaller 4.5-inch qHD (540x960) display, compared to its predecessor, which had a 4.7-inch WVGA (480x800) display. Apart from a VGA front-facing camera, the smartphone boasts of a 5-megapixel AF rear camera with LED flash with shooting modes like panorama shooting, continuous shooting etc., the camera can also record sound while shooting photos.
The battery power has been slightly improved with a bump up to 2100mAh from 2000mAh on the Galaxy Grand Quatrro. Other specifications of the Galaxy Win Pro include full-HD video playback capabilities, apart from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, GPS and Micro-USB connectivity.
Recently Samsung had announced the successor to the Samsung Galaxy Grand, the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box. The Galaxy Grand 2 is a dual-SIM device with support for GSM+GSM. It features a 5.2-inch HD TFT display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels.
The Galaxy Grand 2 is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor alongside 1.5GB of RAM. It sports an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera accompanied by an LED flash. It also houses a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera. It comes with 8GB inbuilt storage, which is further expandable up to 64GB via microSD card.
Samsung Galaxy Win Pro key specifications
- 4.5-inch qHD display with a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels
- 1.2GHz quad-core processor
- Dual-SIM (WCDMA+GSM)
- 5-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash
- 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera
- Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
The Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 is the successor to the Galaxy S Duos, which was launched in September 2012 at a price of Rs. 17,900.
Samsung notes that the Galaxy S Duos 2 supports 10 regional languages, namely Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.
The Galaxy S Duos 2 comes with a 4-inch WVGA (480x800) TFT display and is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor (unspecified chipset). It is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) smartphone and runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz UI on top.
The Galaxy S Duos 2 sports a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and also includes a VGA front-facing camera. The smartphone comes with 768MB of RAM and 4GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable up to 64GB via microSD card.
Connectivity features on the Galaxy S Duos 2 include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, EDGE, GPRS and 3G. There is a 1500mAh battery backing the device which the company claims can deliver up to 8 hours of talktime and up to 280 hours of standby time. The Galaxy S Duos 2 has dimensions of 121.5x63.1x10.57mm, and weighs 118 grams. The smartphone will be available in two colours - Black and White.
Recently, Samsung announced the successor to the Galaxy Grand, the Galaxy Grand 2. However, the South Korean handset maker has not revealed the price for Galaxy Grand 2, and has also not announced the availability details for the smartphone.
Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 key specifications
- 4-inch WVGA (480x800) TFT display
- 1.2GHz dual-core processor (unspecified chipset)
- 768MB of RAM
- 4GB inbuilt storage, expandable up to 64GB via microSD card
- 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash
- VGA front-facing camera
- Dual-SIM (GSM+GSM)
- Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz UI
- Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, EDGE, GPRS and 3G
- 1500mAh battery
- 121.5x63.1x10.57mm
The Karbonn Titanium X runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box. Notably, the smartphone is a single SIM device with support for a micro-SIM.
The Titanium X features a 5-inch full-HD (1080x1920) IPS display, and is powered by a quad-core 1.5GHz processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. The smartphone sports a 13-megapixel rear autofocus camera with dual-LED flash, and also houses a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It includes 16GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable up to 32GB via microSD card.
On the connectivity front, the smartphone includes NFC support, which will make the Titanium X the first 'affordable' smartphone from an Indian brand to sport this feature. The smartphone is backed by a 2300mAh battery, which is rated to deliver up to 6 hours of talktime, and up to 240 hours of standby time. The Karbonn Titanium X includes a host of sensors that include proximity sensor, G sensor, magnetic sensor, gyro sensor, and light sensor.
Commenting on the launch, Shashin Devsare, Executive Director, Karbonn Mobiles said "With the Karbonn Titanium X we are taking the Indian smartphone market to a different level altogether - the level X. Our endeavour is to set a benchmark in the Indian smartphone market, and establish Karbonn Titanium X at the pinnacle of research innovation. Unlike any other smartphone in the market, the Karbonn Titanium X enables the Generation X to live life in the fast lane and discover more into their social interactions."
Karbonn Titanium X key specifications
- 5-inch full-HD IPS display
- 1.5GHz quad-core processor
- 13-megapixel rear autofocus camera with dual LED flash
- 5-megapixel front-facing camera
- Single SIM (micro-SIM)
- Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
- NFC support
- 2300mAh battery
Nokia moved the Delhi High Court seeking lifting of stay on transfer of its assets in India and offered to pay a minimum deposit of Rs. 2,250 crore as tax, contending that the injunction will jeopardise the sale of its Indian arm to Microsoft under the global deal.
Yesterday, its offer was rejected by the Revenue Department. The matter has been listed for December 9 when Nokia has to give details of its assets and liabilities as well as how much tax it has paid in India.
Nokia on Wednesday said if the sale of its Indian unit in Chennai does not happen, the company will wind up its operations in India over a period of 12 months and in itself the assets here will have little value.
Last month, Nokia shareholders overwhelmingly approved the sale of its mobile phone and services division and licence to a patent portfolio to Microsoft for USD 7.2 billion.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The transaction was originally announced on September 3, 2013.
"I'm not allowed for security reasons to have an iPhone," Obama told a group of young people at the White House for an event promoting his health care law.
He added that his daughters Sasha and Malia spend a lot of time on their iPhones.
Blackberry is renowned for its strong security encryption one reason why it is still popular in official Washington, even as the device loses market share to other smart phones including those manufactured by Apple.
The security measures on Obama's specially adapted Blackberry came under new scrutiny this year following claims that US spies had eavesdropped on the mobile phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
(Also see: Merkel-tapping allegations prompt Germany to send intelligence chiefs to US)
Within days of being inaugurated president, Obama won his battle with the Secret Service to hang on to his Blackberry, despite fears that it was vulnerable to being hacked, would give away his whereabouts and amid worries that anything he writes could eventually be grist for congressional investigations.
He has been seen scrolling down his messages in his limousine as he travels around.
The president often privately talks of how frustrated he is about the White House "bubble" which makes it very difficult to communicate with normal people or to get information from the outside world that is not filtered for him by aides or the press. Aides say his Blackberry is a way to escape that confinement.
The White House says the president's personal email address was strictly limited to a small list of senior officials and personal friends, but will not detail the encryption devices that are used to secure his communications.
The acquisition does "not raise any competition concerns, in particular because there are only modest overlaps between" the two companies, the Commission said in a statement.
(Also see: Microsoft to acquire Nokia's Devices & Services business in 5.44 billion euros deal)
The links that do exist between existing Microsoft activities and Nokia's smartphone devices "are unlikely to lead to competitors being shut out from the market," it said.
In smartphones and tablets, the two companies face "several strong rivals, such as Samsung and Apple (who) will continue to compete with the merged entity," it said.
Software giant Microsoft would also have little incentive to restrict use of its Windows operating system for other device makers or of its mobile apps, it said.
Once the world leader in mobile phones, Nokia lost its top place to South Korea's Samsung in 2012, especially as its rivals took the lead in the key smartphone market.
As per a report published by Japanese site, EMS One the alleged Galaxy S5 would sport an aluminium unibody chassis and that it would be manufactured by Taiwanese based company, Catcher. The report claims that Catcher would be manufacturing between 10 million and 30 million Galaxy S5 metal unibody cases.
Notably, Catcher has been the company manufacturing aluminium unibody for devices like HTC One, Apple iPad mini 2, notes Phonearena.
In addition, the RB Men blog has posted a purported image of the Galaxy S5 with metal chassis. The alleged image reveals an unnamed Samsung device's rear panel which features metal back, instead of the plastic we have seen in other Galaxy smartphones.
Prior to this, a set of images allegedly showing a structural component of Samsung's next flagship smartphone, the rumoured Galaxy S5, was spotted online.
Earlier a report suggested the South Korean manufacturer plans to release two versions of the alleged Galaxy S5. As per the report, there would be two variants of the Galaxy S5: a premium variant sporting a metal chassis and a flexible OLED, and a variant which would come with the usual plastic body, as found on other Galaxy smartphones.
Further, the report also speculated that Samsung would initially manufacture around 800,000 to 1 million units of the alleged Galaxy S5 in January, and would increase the number up to 6 million units in February. The report claimed that Samsung would likely release the Galaxy S5 in March or April 2014.
Rumoured specifications of the alleged Galaxy S5 include a 64-bit Exynos chipset or a Snapdragon chipset; 3GB of RAM, a 16-megapixel camera, a 4000mAh battery and Android 4.4 KitKat with TouchWiz UI on top.
The US retail giant's ambitious project still requires additional safety testing and federal approval, but Bezos estimated that Amazon "Prime Air" would be up and running within four to five years.
A demo video posted on the company's website showed the tiny robotic devices picking up packages in small yellow buckets from Amazon's fulfillment centers and then whizzing through the air to deliver the items to customers just 30 minutes after they made their purchase on Amazon.com.
"I know this looks like science fiction. It's not," Bezos told CBS television's "60 Minutes" program.
"We can do half-hour delivery and we can carry objects, we think, up to five pounds (2.3 kilograms), which covers 86 percent of the items that we deliver."
The mini-drones are powered by electric motors and could cover areas within a 10-mile (16-kilometer) radius of fulfillment centers, thus covering a significant portion of the population in urban areas.
They operate autonomously and drop the items at the target locations thanks to GPS coordinates transmitted to them.
"It's very green, it's better than driving trucks around," said Bezos.
Amazon said the octocopters would be "ready to enter commercial operations as soon as the necessary regulations are in place," noting that the Federal Aviation Administration was actively working on rules for unmanned aerial vehicles.
It projected a more optimistic timeline than Bezos himself for the project to be activated, saying the FAA's rules could be in place as early as 2015 and that Amazon Prime Air would be ready at that time.
Bezos hinted that part of the motivation behind the mini-drones was to make sure Amazon remains on the cutting edge of the retail industry.
"Companies have short life spans. And Amazon will be disrupted one day," he said.
"I would love for it to be after I'm dead."
For its upcoming mid-range smartphones, HTC will be using chipsets from players other than its long-time partner, Qualcomm, to counter competition from affordable handset manufacturers, as confirmed by a company executive.
Focus Taiwan has cited Jack Tong, HTC's head of China and North Asia, who shed some light on the company's plans for its upcoming mid-range smartphones.
According to Tong, the Taiwanese handset maker will start pricing its high-end smartphones at a more affordable level. Coming to the company's mid-range smartphones, Tong revealed that the three mid-range Desire smartphones the company launched on Wednesday, are using chips from ST-Ericsson, Spreadtrum and Broadcom, instead of Qualcomm.
Specifically, the HTC Desire 501 is powered by ST-Ericsson's U8520 dual-core processor, the Desire 601 dual-SIM is powered by Broadcom's Java quad-core processor, and the Desire 700 dual-SIM is powered by Spreadtrum's Shark quad-core processor.
"HTC will evaluate the situation. If most players in the industry are seeking high performance to cost, then we would not be able to ignore such a trend despite good design and applications," Tong told Focus Taiwan.
A recent report revealed that the Taiwanese smartphone maker would slash costs of its devices by nearly a quarter, and plans to sell cheaper devices in a bid to bounce back to profit in the October-December period.
Samsung's next flagship smartphone, expected to be called the Galaxy S5, might still be far from confirmed, but a new report suggests that the device will hit mass production in January 2014. The report also expects the speculated successor of Samsung Galaxy Gear to be launched alongside the rumoured Galaxy S5.
Korean publication, ET News reports that the South Korean manufacturer plans to release two versions of the alleged Galaxy S5. As per the report, there will be two variants of the Galaxy S5: a premium variant which will sport a metal chassis and a flexible OLED, and a variant which will come with the usual plastic body, as found on other Galaxy smartphones.
Earlier this week, a new set of images purportedly revealing the supposed metal frames of the rumoured Galaxy S5 was spotted online.
Further, the report speculates that Samsung will initially manufacture around 8,00,000 to 1 million units of the alleged Galaxy S5 in January, and will increase the number up to 6 million units in February. Samsung is likely to release the Galaxy S5 in March or April 2014, according to the report.
Sammobile has revealed some of the specifications of the alleged Galaxy S5, with two variants expected to be powered by 64-bit Exynos chipset and Snapdragon chipset (no word on this would be the new Snapdragon 805 chipset. Also expected on board is 3GB of RAM, a 16-megapixel camera, a 4000mAh battery and Android 4.4 KitKat with TouchWiz UI on top.
Earlier reports had suggested that Samsung's next-generation of high-end smartphones, including the rumoured Galaxy S5, would be equipped with a 16-megapixel camera, but didn't indicate the type of module.
In addition, the ET News also claims that Samsung is also busy developing the successor to the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, and that it might launch along with the alleged Galaxy S5. The next generation Samsung Galaxy Gear is said to be 15 to 20 percent thinner than the current smartwatch. As of now, there is no word on specifications of the rumoured Galaxy Gear smartwatch.
A recent report has suggested that sales figures Samsung's first wearable device, the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, had been disappointing. However, Samsung countered the claim immediately after, and said that it sold 800,000 smartwatch units in 2 months.
The Photo Max Wi-Fi can serve up to 5 Wi-Fi devices simultaneously and is capable of reaching download speeds of up to 6.2Mbps. It can be powered by any USB port, which means you can plug it into your laptop or any USB power adapter at home, or in the car, and get a Wi-Fi Internet connection wherever you go. Tata Docomo claims that the Wi-Fi hotspot has a range of 100 metres.
Like some of its siblings like the Photon Max and the Photo Plus, the Photon Max Wi-Fi operates at a frequency of 800MHz, which (theoretically) translates into better indoor connectivity than devices operating on GSM frequencies in India. The device comes with free roaming roaming across the country, though the Photo Max speeds of up to 6.2Mbps are limited to a little over 30 cities. In around 300 other Photon Plus cities, users will experience speeds up to 3.1Mbps, with the maximum speed coming down to 153.6Kbps in other regions.
Unlimited data plans with fair usage limits start at Rs. 650 and Rs. 730 per month for postpaid and prepaid users respectively, with speeds capped at 153.6Kbps once the limits are reached. Various other plans are being offered, including a pay as you go postpaid plan for Rs. 300 per month, with 0.5GB of free usage and Rs. 1,500 postpaid plan that comes with 15GB of usage.
Tata Photon Max Wi-Fi Prepaid Plans (may vary by region)
Existing Tata Photon customers can contact customer care for special upgrade offers
The Galaxy S Duos 2 is also available through online retailers for a discounted price of Rs. 10,730, quoting roughly 3 business days of delivery time.
The Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 comes with a 4-inch WVGA (480x800) TFT display and is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor (unspecified chipset). It is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) smartphone and runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz UI on top.
The Galaxy S Duos 2 sports a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and also includes a VGA front-facing camera. The smartphone comes with 768MB of RAM and 4GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable up to 64GB via microSD card.
Connectivity features on the Galaxy S Duos 2 include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, EDGE, GPRS and 3G. There is a 1500mAh battery backing the device which the company claims can deliver up to 8 hours of talktime and up to 280 hours of standby time. The Galaxy S Duos 2 has dimensions of 121.5x63.1x10.57mm, and weighs 118 grams.
Recently, Samsung announced the successor to the Galaxy Grand, the Galaxy Grand 2. Though, the South Korean handset maker has not revealed the price for Galaxy Grand 2 and has also not announced the availability details for the smartphone.
The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box. The Galaxy Grand 2 is a dual-SIM device with support for GSM+GSM. It features a 5.2-inch HD TFT display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels.
The Galaxy Grand 2 is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor alongside 1.5GB of RAM. It sports an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera accompanied by an LED flash. It also houses a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera. It comes with 8GB inbuilt storage, which is further expandable up to 64GB via microSD card.
Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 key specifications
- 4-inch WVGA (480x800) TFT display
- 1.2GHz dual-core processor (unspecified chipset)
- 768MB of RAM
- 4GB inbuilt storage, expandable up to 64GB via microSD card
- 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash
- VGA front-facing camera
- Dual-SIM (GSM+GSM)
- Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz UI
- Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, EDGE, GPRS and 3G
- 1500mAh battery
- 121.5x63.1x10.57mm
A U.S. appeals court on Monday breathed new life into Apple's long-running attempt to secure an injunction banning the sale of some devices made by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, ordering a California judge to reconsider imposing a permanent sales ban on some Samsung products.
Apple, which makes iPhones and iPads, has been incensed by what it considers Android knockoffs of its devices, many made by Samsung. The two companies have been in a long-running and global battle over patent infringement.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said on Monday that the lower court abused its discretion in denying Apple's request for an injunction of Samsung devices with respect to utility patents and asked it to reconsider.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California had refused the injunction in December 2012. Apple Inc had requested it because of a ruling that Samsung products infringed on three design and three utility patents related to mobile devices.
The appeals court upheld the lower court's refusal to order an injunction on the design patents.
Last year, Apple was awarded over $1 billion after it convinced a jury that Samsung copied various iPhone features.
In March U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose ruled that the jury had made errors in some calculations, impacting about $400 million of the verdict.
Koh ordered a retrial of that portion of the original award, which is now wrapping up in San Jose. Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday.
Koh also rejected Apple's request for a permanent ban on the sale of several Samsung products in the lucrative U.S. market.
Court-ordered injunctions are much more threatening to companies than monetary verdicts, and tend to increase the likelihood of a settlement. But in this case, it could be months before Apple ultimately secures an injunction against Samsung, which undercuts Apple's leverage, said Brian Love, a professor at Santa Clara Law in Silicon Valley.
Still, the ruling bodes well for Apple's future court battles, Love said. The iPhone maker is scheduled for another trial against Samsung in April 2014, which involves newer Samsung products.
The Federal Circuit's ruling on Monday will give Apple firmer precedent to get an injunction in that case, he said.
"Certainly this is not an across-board win for Apple," Love said, "but I think Apple is happy with this outcome."
The three utility patents are for the "bounce-back" feature, which allows users scrolling through text to reach the end and then bounce back; a "multi-touch display" that allows the device to distinguish between a user who uses one finger to scroll and two to "pinch to zoom"; and "double tap to zoom," which allows a user to tap a device twice so it will zoom in.
The appeals court said the district court erred in requiring Apple to show that the features in the infringed patents were the sole reason consumers bought Samsung devices.
"Rather than show that a patent feature is the exclusive reason for consumer demand, Apple must show some connection between the patented feature and demand for Samsung products," the court said in its ruling.
The appeals court also said that the lower court relied too much on evidence that Apple licensed the patents to others as a reason to order financial damages rather than an injunction, saying that Samsung was different because it was Apple's primary competitor.
Samsung has the top spot in the global smartphone market, with a 32.1 percent market share while Apple was second with 12.1 percent, the research firm Gartner said last week.
(Also see: Quarterly smartphone shipments top 250 million for the first time)
Of the smartphones sold, 81.9 percent run Google's mobile platform Android, while 12.1 percent used Apple's iOS, Gartner said.
(Also see: Android on 81 percent of new smartphones, Windows Phone share grows: IDC Q3)
"The district court abused its discretion by failing to properly analyze whether damages would adequately compensate Apple for Samsung's (court emphasis) infringement of these patents (court emphasis)," the three judge panel said in its ruling.
Samsung declined comment while representatives for Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is Apple Inc v Samsung Electronics Co., Inc. The case number is 2013-1129.
© Thomson Reuters 2013
As per GizChina, Huawei's President, Xu Xin Quan was spotted saying on the Weibo blogging platform that the new Ascend P6S smartphone, successor to the Ascend P6, will be unveiled with company's updated version of the in-house K3V2 processor with octa-core processing prowess. Further, the report revealed that the upcoming eight-core chipset will feature integrated 3G and will be optimised for extended battery life.
Unfortunately, the company's President has not shed much light on the innards of the Ascend P6S except the chipset. No details about the release and availability of the smartphone were shared either.
Samsung and MediaTek have already launched octa-core processors, the Exynos 5 Octa chips and MT6592 chipset respectively.
Sammobile has leaked an Android 4.3 test firmware with build number N7100XXUEMK4, allegedly for the Samsung Galaxy Note II phablet with model number GT-N7100. The site also speculates that the South Korean major will be rolling out the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for the phablet this week.
As per the site, Samsung has updated the core UI elements of the Galaxy Note II to match the Galaxy S4 and Note 3's interface. Further, the rumoured update for the phablet will add new features like Samsung KNOX and Samsung Wallet. The update also makes the Galaxy Note II phablet compatible with the Galaxy Gear smartwatch.
Earlier this month, a report indicated that the Galaxy Note II phablets are being updated to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean via service centres in India.
Recently a report suggested that some users in UK were encountering problems with their Galaxy S III smartphone after the Android 4.3 update.
As per the report, the Galaxy S III users were complaining of unresponsive handsets, particularly the lockscreen, after updating the smartphone. Other issues included erratic Wi-Fi connectivity, poor battery backup, and a system hanging problem that required the battery to be pulled out to restart the smartphone.
The report also speculated that the South Korean manufacturer might stop the Android 4.3 update for Galaxy S III, after the issue attracted attention. It also expected that this may result to delay in Android 4.3 update for the Galaxy Note 2 phablet.
However, the leaked test firmware for Galaxy Note II hints that it might be released soon.
Following the recently leaked live images of the Sony Xperia Z1s, the much-talked about international variant of the Xperia Z1 f, a new image of the smartphone has now popped on the Internet.
The new leaked image shows the yet-to-be-announced Xperia Z1s pictured alongside the flagship smartphone, the Xperia Z1. Unfortunately, the new leaked image does not reveal a lot of details related to the Xperia Z1s except some indications about its expected size. In the picture, the Xperia Z1s looks smaller but exactly a copy of the bigger sibling Xperia Z1, which measures 144x74x8.5mm. The image was leaked on the Chinese forum, Digi-wo and was first spotted by Xperia Guide. The leaked image shows the front panel of both the Xperia Z1s and Xperia Z1 with the displays turned-on. As per the leaked image, the Xperia Z1s appears to have an identical interface to the Xperia Z1.
The Sony Xperia Z1s is rumoured to come with a 4.3-inch TRILUMINOS HD (720x1280) display with X-Reality for Mobiles; a 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm MSM8974 processor; 2GB of RAM; 16GB of inbuilt storage that's further expandable up to 64GB via microSD card, and a 2300mAh battery with STAMINA mode. Further, the Xperia Z1s believed to be much like the Xperia Z1 f and Xperia Z1 in terms of optics, sporting the 20.7-megapixel Exmor RS sensor alongside the BIONZ image processor engine and pulsed LED flash. In addition, like other Xperia Z smartphones, the Xperia Z1s is said to be waterproof and dust-proof.
Earlier, the Xperia Z1s was briefly listed on Sony's global site that confirmed the existence of the smartphone.
An Amazon case listing has also already suggested that the Sony Xperia Z1s will be released on November 26.
The number of Internet users in India is expected to rise 18.53 percent in the coming eight months to reach 24.3 crore by June 2014, on the back of higher adoption of mobiles as a means to access the Internet, a report Wednesday said.
India is also expected to overtake the US as the second largest Internet base in the world by the same time.
"The report estimates that by June 2014, India will have 243 million Internet users, at which point of time, it is expected to overtake the US as the second largest Internet base in the world," the I-Cube 2013 report, released by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International said.
At present, China leads with more than 300 million Internet users while the US has an estimated 207 million Internet users.
The report said the number of Internet users in India has reached 20.5 crore as of October this year, registering a year-on-year growth of 40 percent over last year and by December 2013, it is expected to reach 21.3 crore.
"The Internet in India took more than a decade to move from 10 million to 100 million and only 3 years from 100 to 200 million. From here on, we can hope to develop a robust Internet ecosystem with a multitude of local and global players and a thriving Internet economy," said IAMAI Chairman Rajan Anandan.
The report said Internet access from mobile devices will see huge growth in the coming years.
"Mobile Internet is going to be the next game changer for Internet in India." it added.
The report said the number of mobile Internet users has witnessed a steady rise, with 11 crore users in October and is estimated to reach 13 crore by the end of December this year.
"Mobile usage and hence, mobile Internet usage has seen huge jump from the 2012 penetration levels. Compared to the 0.4 percent mobile Internet users in 2012, the penetration has grown to 2.4 percent, indicating a substantial growth in the mobile Internet user penetration levels," the report said.
Of all the active Internet users, close to 90 percent use Internet for online communication and under this, e-mail communication commands the highest share of 78 percent.
"Social Networking continues to be the rage with 75 percent of the users engaging in it actively while 69 percent use the Internet for entertainment," it said.
Apart from listening to songs and watching videos online, sizeable number of users are downloading mobile value added services (VAS) and online shopping has also picked up in a big way, it said.
"Every second active Internet user claims to have bought something or the other over the Internet," it added.
While it has already been confirmed that Motorola will be launching the dual-SIM version of the Moto G in India in early-January 2014, and that the smartphone would be receiving a 'guaranteed' Android 4.4 KitKat the same month, a new report says the model that will ship in India will come pre-loaded with Google's latest iteration of Android.
Omio News Blog in a report has revealed Motorola's plans for the rollout of Moto G with the latest Android iteration in various countries.
The report quotes Mark Randal, Senior Vice President, Supply Chain & Operations, Motorola who while replying about Android 4.4 KitKat rollout plans for Moto G said that the company will be shipping the smartphone with Android 4.4 KitKat after Christmas. Considering that in India, the Moto G will be launched next year, in early January, it is quite evident that the device will be running Android 4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box.
Further, the report notes that the Motorola Moto G will release in two waves (as we confirmed during the press conference) , the first wave includes countries namely Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico and UK, while the second wave includes US, South East Asia and other countries. Randal also revealed that the Motorola Moto G will be launched with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean in first wave countries, though they will also receive the Android 4.4 KitKat update by the end of January.
On Thursday, a tweet by Guy Kawasaki confirmed that the Motorola Moto G dual-SIM variant would be making it to the Indian market, as well as Brazil. While Motorola has already confirmed that the Moto G will be arriving in India, it has yet to reveal the precise plans for the type of retail availability.
The Motorola Moto G features a 4.5-inch HD 'edge-to-edge' display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels (translating to a pixel density of 329ppi) and boasts a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 screen. Powered by a quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor coupled with an Adreno 305 GPU, the Moto G features 1GB of RAM. On the optics front, the Moto G sports a 5-megapixel rear camera along with an LED flash and also includes a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. The rear camera supports HD (720p) video recording.
The Motorola Moto G also features water-resistant nano-coating on the inside and outside. The Moto G packs a 2070mAh battery, which Motorola claims can deliver up to 30 percent more talktime than the Apple iPhone 5s.
Google boss Eric Schmidt said Monday that the tech giant had developed new technology that makes it harder to find child sexual abuse images on the web.
Writing in British newspaper the Daily Mail, Google's executive chairman said more than 100,000 searches would no longer feature such material in their results.
The restrictions will initially apply to English-speaking countries but will be expanded to the rest of the world and 158 other languages within six months.
The announcement comes ahead of Monday's Internet Safety Summit at Prime Minister David Cameron's Downing Street office, where Google and Microsoft will be joined by other Internet firms.
In July, Cameron urged search engines to go further in blocking surfers from accessing illegal images.
Schmidt wrote: "While society will never wholly eliminate such depravity, we should do everything in our power to protect children from harm."
He said that in the last three months, Google had put more than 200 staff working on developing new technology to tackle the problem.
"We've fine tuned Google Search to prevent links to child sexual abuse material from appearing in our results," he wrote.
"While no algorithm is perfect and Google cannot prevent paedophiles adding new images to the web these changes have cleaned up the results for over 100,000 queries that might be related to the sexual abuse of kids.
"We will soon roll out these changes in more than 150 languages, so the impact will be truly global."
Schmidt said warnings from the California-based Internet giant were now showing at the top of results for more than 13,000 searches. The alerts also make clear that child sexual abuse is illegal and give advice on where to get help.
He also said Google had developed technology that allowed illegal videos to be 'tagged' so all duplicate copies can be removed across the web.
"We welcome the lead taken by the British government, and hope that the technologies developed (and shared) by our industry will make a real difference in the fight against this terrible crime," said Schmidt.
Samsung recently launched the Galaxy Round with a curved display, but a new report reveals that the South Korean maker has more screen experiments up its sleeve.
Bloomberg reports that Samsung is working on a Galaxy smartphone that would sport three-sided display that would wrap around the edges of the smartphone. Further, the report quotes two people familiar with the Samsung plans and notes that each side of the display would operate separately and that the alleged wraparound display would work with company's Youm flexible display technology, first used for the curved display on the Galaxy Round.
As per the report, the Samsung's smartphone with wraparound display could be a device in the Galaxy S or Galaxy Note phablet series, or in a new smartphone lineup entirely. The report does not reveal an exact time frame for the release of the alleged Samsung Galaxy phone with wraparound display, but expects the alleged device to be out by the second half of 2014.
Unfortunately, the report did not shed any light on the innards of the alleged Galaxy smartphone with the wraparound display. The alleged Galaxy smartphone with a new display type might be an attempt to gauge consumers' reaction for phones with new form factors, though Samsung's first attempt with new display type, the Galaxy Round has been limited to selective markets only, and not been too popular.
Earlier this month, Samsung at its second analyst meeting in South Korea spilled the beans about its upcoming devices with newer technologies in coming years. Samsung's chief announced that company plans to release devices with folding displays, such as foldable phones - due in 2015.
Samsung also acknowledged room for improvement in its wearable tech device, the Galaxy Gear, and also revealed that the company has not been 100 percent satisfied by the product.