Zync’s Phablet Only For INR 9,490

                                   Zync has launched a dual-SIM Android phablet – the Coud Z5 – which features a 5-inch capacitive multi-touch display with a 480×800 pixel resolution. It runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.

The Zync Cloud Z5 is powered by a 1 GHz Single-Core processor and 512 MB RAM. The device comes with an internal memory of 4 GB and has a Support TF card up that allows for up to 32 GB expandable memory.

The dual SIM Phablet supports 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and FM radio as well. The device comes with an 8 MP camera with flash and auto focus and a 0.3 MP front Camera. The device weighs merely 190 gm.

The other features that the Phablet possesses are Ebook, Email,  Messaging, VPN Services, Google search, Flash Player, Light Sensors, Documents to go, wallpapers, Calendar, Calculator, Clock, tethering & portable hotspot, etc. Zync claims that the phablet has a long battery life of 2500mAh.

But the main plus point of the Zync Cloud Z5 is its price;at Rs. 9,490 it is the cheapest phablet in the market.

30 Million Samsung Galaxy S III Units Sold

Yesterday only it was found out that 3 million Galaxy Note 2 units have been sold in 37 days.And now with the Galaxy S III Samsung has reached another milestone.Samsung has just announced that it has sold 30 million units of the smartphone worldwide. The number includes the I9300 as well as carrier specific versions offered in specific markets such as the United States, Japan, and Korea and is spot on with earlier expectations.



The above number has been achieved in an impressively quick fashion – the first Samsung Galaxy S III units hit the shelves roughly five months ago. With the upcoming holiday shopping season right around the corner, coupled with the healthy drop of the handset’s price in some major markets, it is all but guaranteed that the number will increase even further.

Android Tightens Its Security System

                       Everyone knows that Android is fragmented.Everyone also knows that Android is a bit low on security.Also there is is no antimalware software in the Google Play Store.

Surely the danger of virus infecting your phone is also partly due to you.If a user downloads apps from third-party app stores, however, he faces two possible threats: rogue/spyware applications and premium SMS apps.

Android 4.2 however effectively deals with those two last threats as well, and here is how.

Bouncer, Google Play's security system

To properly understand the process, we need to go back at February 2015 when Google introduced the Bouncer system that continuously scans and analyzes every single app submitted on the Play Store, and goes to such great lengths as to actually run every app on a cloud simulator to check its actual behavior. The result is that Google Play has become a very safe & secure place.

A little disclaimer to be perfectly exact: it is not impossible to circumvent the Bouncer system as it runs a virtual environment and that could be detected, but it is extremely hard to crack it. And given the consequences for the developer account that does, it is hard to imagine Android security cracked.

Now, Bouncer is almost sealed to the public. Reverse-engineering it, though, has revealed that what it does is effectively detect the most common threats from spyware and premiums SMS apps. If an app tries to steal your contacts, Bouncer detects it. If an app tries to send a message to a premium number, Bouncer detects it. If an app, steals your photos? You guessed it right, Bouncer detects it.

Android 4.2 brings Bouncer to sideloaded apps

The big news with Android 4.2 is that it now includes a service based on Bouncer that works with all apps, not just those on Google Play. For example, it can check apps you download on the Amazon Appstore. Or an anonymous Chinese app catalog.

Whenever you try to ‘sideload’ an app (install it from a different source than the official market, that is), the system will kick in and instantaneously run that same very detailed check on Google’s servers. Speed here is important, and in Android's case, you won't even notice the check.

"The server does all the hard work," Android VP of Engineering Hiroshi Lockheimer explained. "The device sends only a signature of the APK so that the server can identify it rapidly."

                         The new service is not mandatory though. The first time you try to sideload an app on your Android 4.2 device, a pop-up will appear asking you whether you want to verify apps. Best of all, when an app raises some red flags with its behavior, but can’t be definitely written off as malware, you get to choose whether to install it or not afer reviewing what it has access to. And even the permissions screen has been tweaked adding illustrative icons, so you can take a quick glance instead of reading it.

               This is definitely another huge step for Android security . Instead of leaving its app protection system for the Play Store only, the company spreads it to sideloaded apps and thus makes third-party app catalogs more secure.

App permissions on Android 4.1 (left) and 4.2 (right)

The Official Facebook Phone-HTC Opera UL

Despite rejecting all plans of building a Facebook phone,it seems that the most popular social network company is actually working on building its own phone.

That "Facebook" phone has appeared in the NenaMark2 results database and it is powered by a 1.4GHz (probably dual-core) Krait processor with Adreno 305 graphics and sports an HD display. It's currently running on Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean.

                 What do you people think?Let me know in the comments!

Galaxy Note II Super Hit:3 Million Units Sold In A Month

                 Galaxy Note II was already destined to be a hit in this market ;it was the best phablet at the time it was released and it is still now.So the numbers were already expected by me.Samsung has sold this phablet 3 million units in just 37 days,impressive isn't it?

"The rapid Galaxy Note 2 sales have a meaning of not just creating a new category of smartphone, but also of popularizing the category." – says Samsung.

Impressive,Phablet!

The first Galaxy Note managed to sell just 2 million units four months after its premiere (way more than the initial expectations), so the Note II has reached its main aim i.e it has defeated  its predecessor.

HTC Desire SV Announced In India

HTC today announced a new Android based dual-SIM smartphone. The phone has been christened Desire SV and will launch in India this month and will sell for INR 22,590

HTC Desire SV

                                 The Desire SV has a 4.3-inch Super LCD2 with a resolution of 800 x 480, dual-core 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 768MB RAM, 4GB internal memory with microSD card slot, 8 megapixel camera with LED flash, BSI sensor, f/2.2 aperture and 28mm lens, WVGA video recording, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, Wi-Fi, Beats Audio and a 1,620mAh battery. The Android version of this phone is most probably 4.1 and as usual,with HTC's Sense UI on top of it.

Samsung Vs HTC Vs LG Vs Meizu Quad-Core Processor

Quad-Core Processors.The name itself makes it clear that we are going to be witness a stiff battle between our competitors.And who are these heavyweight champs you may ask?
              Well,those that will playing today are :

• Samsung Galaxy S III     
• HTC One X
• LG Optimus G  
• Meizu MX 4-Core

With great power comes great responsibility and these phones not only represent themselves but also their manufacturers. It's a battle of the chipsets too. Inside the Samsung Galaxy S III and Meizu MX Quad Core beats the same Exynos 4212 Quad chipset, while the HTC One X is powered by the Nvidia Tegra 3  and the beast LG Optimus G is powered by the S4 Pro Chipset.

                   So,without wasting further time lets start our battle!

1.Screen Size

           Even though this article is centered around the premise of comparing chipsets, the screen is almost as important - what would be the use of all that computing power if the screen is going to limit what you can do.  

The Samsung Galaxy S III ,HTC One X & LG Optimus G all have 4.7 -4.8 inch screens ,hence they are almost equal.However,Meizu MX 4-core has a 4 inch screen and I suppose that this will be an advantage for this phone.

Samsung Galaxy S III

LG Optimus G

HTC One X

Meizu MX 4-Core

2.Clock Speed

         The HTC One X is powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor while the S III and the MX 4-core have  1.4 GHz  Exynos 4212 Quad chipset under their hoods.The Optimus G is powered by the 1.5 GHz Krait S4 Pro Chipset .

3.Benchmark Scores

i) Benchmark Pi(lower is better)

    Samsung Galaxy S III : 344

    HTC One X : 

    LG Optimus G : 285

    Meizu MX 4-Core : 362

ii)Linpack(Higher is Better)

    Samsung Galaxy S III : 177.1

    HTC One X: 160.9

    LG Optimus G : 608

    Meizu MX 4-Core : 189.1

iii)Quadrant(Higher is Better)

    Samsung Galaxy S III : 5365

    HTC One X : 5952

    LG Optimus G : 7439

    Meizu MX 4-Core: 5170

iv)Antutu (Higher is better)

    Samsung Galaxy S III : 10767

    HTC One X : 11633

    LG Optimus G :11226

    Meizu MX 4-Core: 11820

v)BrowserMark(Higher is better)

    Samsung Galaxy S III : 158953

    HTC One X : 140270

    LG Optimus G : 118126

    Meizu MX 4-Core: 158404

So as you can see from the benchmark results it is the LG Optimus G which stands out among the other smartphones.This is mainly because of the new S4 Pro chipset running inside the Optimus which is at present the best quad-core processor for phones on the planet.
           What do you guys have to say?Please comment below.

Nexus 3 Leaked

As we already know that the new Nexus devices are being christened after their screen sizes. A device called Nexus 3 has popped up in the EXIF data of a Google Switzerland employee and he claims the EXIF data has been modified.

                  To be more specific, the person, in his October 28 post containing the two pictures, stated that “we get to test some things before they’re launched, but for everything else, there’s exiv2.org”. We all know that EXIF data can be modified but let’s just stop and speculate for a second on why would a Google employee take his time to edit the information in such way before publishing it on his Google+ page?

Maybe he is trying to attract our attention.The images are those types of images which a typical user would simply upload from the device directly to Google+. In this case there was an extra step in modifying the EXIF data, as claimed.

Smart Dock Released For Samsung Galaxy Note 2

                 Galaxy Note 2 now has an exclusive product known as the Smart Dock.What it does is that it allows to plug your phone into the dock and then use it as a makeshift desktop PC or media center.


                          It uses microUSB  to interact with your Galaxy Note II. On the back is an HDMI port that will output 1080p video stream to a monitor or a TV. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack for outputting stereo sound. The microUSB port on the back lets you connect the dock to a charger or a computer.



Along the sides are three USB 2.0 ports that allow you to connect external storage devices such as flash drives as well as a keyboard and a mouse.It costs $99.99.

Top Best Video Editing Apps For Android Phones

Smartphones nowadays are already packed with HD capabilities and it’s no wonder why people choose their trusted phones to capture and record videos. But don’t you know that you can also enhance your video with the use of Android applications? Here is a list of the top 6 video editing apps for the Android Platform.

1.Snip Video Trimmer

             If you’re fond of watching movies on your smartphone, then you probably have explored the option of trimming down your videos. Snip Video Trimmer is a fantastic app for editing and creating videos on the fly. Aside from being a video editing application, Snip Video Trimmer also lets you shorten clips and view information directly from the app itself. You can also upload and share short videos over the web.

Snip Video Trimmer is simple software that doesn’t necessarily have fancy additions compared to its counterparts. But, for users who just need a lighter video editing application on the go, then Snip Video Trimmer is the right application of choice

2.Vid Trim Pro

        If all you need to do is some simple cropping, VidTrim should do the trick. Once you are done trimming a video, it can be shared directly from the app. The paid version of VidTrim removes the ads and allows saving individual frames as still images.

3.Magisto

          For something with a bit more potential, yet hardly more difficult to use, check out Magisto. It is an intelligent video editor that stitches clips together, adds fancy transitions, and lets you spice things up with an audio track of your own. The editing process is automated for your convenience.

4.AndroMedia HD

         AndroMedia is a full-featured video-editing program for Android that offers many of the same features you might find on a traditional desktop video editor. Features include the ability to add effects and transitions, to overlay title clips and captions, and to fade in and out video.

The app supports MP4,MOV,JPG,PNG,MP3, and WAV file formats, and finished videos can be exported in standard or high-definition and uploaded directly to YouTube from within the app.

5.Ultimate Special FX

            Have you ever wanted to become an action star on your own movie? This is your chance to become one–and all you need is your smartphone to do your bidding. Turn ordinary shots into stunning, breathtaking movie clips with the Ultimate Special FX application developed by TechCat Mobile.

Ultimate Special FX offers users different visual effects that they can apply to their videos. From missile pods to air destruction, nothing is more satisfying than having Hollywood-style video effects rolling out on your camera. To add special effects, users just need to select a specific scene, and then start shooting on their cameras. In order for the visual effects to be seen in your shot, you need to let the app know what scene you need to insert the effect.

Don’t expect to see some fancy or complex special effects that you see in movies, as Ultimate Special FX is still in its infancy. As of now, the app is only limited to a number of scenes, but rest assured the developers will be adding more effects in the later updates.

6.Lapse It

Lapse It for Android is a unique way to brilliantly capture videos, as it converts any video you shoot into a stunning piece of art. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Lapse It is an award-winning, full-featured app that captures amazing time lapse clips using only your Android camera.

Lapse It is fairly easy to use and beginners who are new to taking videos will become instant professionals with just a week’s practice. To capture time-lapse videos, users just need to select the duration of seconds in between images, select a color effect, and hit the capture button to start shooting. After you finish recording, the app will then give you options to render your videos in either MP4, MOV, or FLV formats with various resolutions and frame rates.

Cortex-A50 Chips With Thrice Performance Increase By ARM

                      The A50 Cortex chips have been announced by ARM today,which are supposed to be 3 times faster than the fastest processors of today, keeping battery life in mind as well.T ARM’s timeline matched AMD’s as well, as they expect to ship the first A50-based devices to ship in 2014.


                  ARM says that the performance boosts will be due to multi-threading improvements, a shift to 64-bit processing, and perhaps most importantly a die-shrink, as the A-50 series chips will be made with transistors that are a mere 20nm across. As with any die-shrink, that will lead to faster and more efficient circuitry. The backwards-compatible 64-bit processing is also interesting, as it allows chips to “seamlessly transition from a 32-bit to a 64-bit execution state”, so in the next few years phone and tablet chips will be ready for a shift to 64-bit computing (and concurrent increases in RAM size), paving the way for ever more complex mobile OSes.

           ARM also  announced two chips as the lmain products of the A50 series, the Cortex-A53 and the Cortex-A57. The A57 will be the high-end performance chip, and we can expect to see them in some of the most beastly mobile devices in 2014 . The A53 will be held to around the same computational power as todays Cortex-A9 processors, but they will be much smaller in size and use about 1/5th of the energy. The size-shrink might make them more useful for wearable computers and other embedded devices, with more battery juice as well
             On the other hand,Intel is also not left behind.They are already seeing the future dominated by 48 core processors! 
          What do you reckon?

Related articles

• Intel Researching On 48 Core Processors In Phones And Tablets

Galaxy Premier Announced

Rumours have already been around about the Galaxy premier for some time.Finally,today Samsung has announced it.However,this phone is no S IV.Its just another way to bring back the Galaxy Nexus.
                           The Galaxy Premier has a 4.65-inch, 1280 x 720 Super AMOLED display, 8 megapixel rear camera with 1080p video recording, 1.9 megapixel front facing camera, 1GB RAM, 8 or 16GB internal memory with microSD card slot, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC and a 2,100mAh battery.

The exact chip running inside has not yet been determined the leaked benchmark scores suggest that the Galaxy Premier has a TI OMAP4470 with a dual-core 1.5GHz ARM Cortex A9 CPU and PowerVR SGX544 GPU.

                         The Galaxy Premier will start selling from next month and in Ukraine in December for around 5,555UAH ($680).

No Multi-User Support In Android 4.2 Phones

   As I have already said in my article about the new features of Android 4.2 one of the best features by far is the ability to have multiple user accounts.I was really waiting for this. Tablets are now becoming the new “home PC” and these get shared all the time. If your older kids are going on a trip, it’s always great to lend them your top-notch Android smartphone for them to use features like navigation and others. Sadly, Android 4.2 only provides multiple-user support for tablets even if the functionality is built-in to smartphones as well.
It’s still unclear as to why that is, but some area already speculating that Nokia is to blame.Nokia filed a patent in 2005 where they make this feature an exclusive Nokia service, though I can't remember they ever launched a device with this feature working.

How To Get Android 4.2 Stock Keyboard

                                                       In my article yesterday about new features of Android 4.2 I said that Android has introduced gesture based typing.Well it sounds similar to Swype but it is much faster.Obviouslt,this is a feature of Android 4.2. But if you want to give this keyboard a try, it’s already available for download under two cases:
Case I: If your device is not rooted, but you have the stock Android keyboard either active or disabled by your OEM (Motorola for example), you simply download the .APK file and install it. Obviously this requires that you allow the installation of apps from unknown sources in your device’s settings. Worse case scenario is that the app simply won’t install if you don’t meet any of the criteria, so our advice is that you try this first. Sadly though, if you’re not running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or above, this won’t work.
Case II : If case 1 doesn’t work, you would have to flash the keyboard onto your device. Obviously this requires a Rooted phone, and well, worse case scenario is actually worse if something goes wrong.

Why Nexus Devices Don't Support MicroSD Card

Matias Duarte,director of Android operating system User Experience at Google explains why Nexus devices have no SD card,though many people may not be satisfiedwith that answer. As Duarte explains, “We take a different approach. Your Nexus has a fixed amount of space and your apps just seamlessly use it for you without you ever having to worry about files or volumes or any of that techno nonsense left over from the old era of computing.”

Thus, Nexus devices don’t have MicroSD card slots. They are simply too old for the technoworrlld  technoworld and apparently they confuse people. Many people probably wouldn’t mind this if there were better storage options.

While the Galaxy Nexus had 32GB of storage, the LG Nexus 4 has been reported as only having 8GB and 16GB offerings. It’s disappointing that Google believes everyone would be happy with only 8GB or 16GB of space with no room for expansion. Many people use much more than 16GB of space.

How To Flash BAKED Blackbean Into Galaxy S III

                         There are a  lot of custom ROMs that have been for the Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3 SPH-L710 in this technoworrlld technoworld which allows to enjoy the goodness of  Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.Among those custom ROMs, the BAKED Blackbean custom ROM’s all-black user interface may be the one for you. Aside from its user interface, the ROM also includes Google Apps in an inverted theme, bringing a new Google experience to your mobile phone.

                        The BAKED Blackbean ROM is based on Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean. The ROM also brings some cool features from popular ROMs such as CyanogenMod and AOKP. Among these features are DSPManager, AOKP Toogles, ROM Control, CM Lockscreen Calendar, CM Lockscreen Weather, and others.
This tutorial shows you how to flash BAKED Blackbean ROM for the Galaxy S3 L710.


Warning

1.The instructions in this guide are intended for use with the Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3, model number SPH-
   L710. Applying these instructions on another device or model may produce undesired outcomes.
2.The information in this guide is provided for instructional and educational purposes only. There is no
   guarantee that these instructions will work under your specific and unique circumstances.
3.Use these instructions at your own risk. We shall not hold any responsibility or liability for whatever
   happens to you or your device arising from your use of the info in this guide.
4.Read and understand the whole guide first before actually performing the instructions.

Well,after reading you might be thinking of leaving.Don't.If you follow the tutorial carefully,there shouldn't be any danger

Requirements

1.Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3 SPH-L710 with ClockworkMod Recovery installed

2.Download the following files:
   a)BAKED Blackbean ROM (baked_d2spr_blackbean-5.zip, md5sum:
      10e143143fca441c0b07e5bc7bab582b)

b)Inverted GApps (Google Apps) package (gappsinverted-jb-20151016-signed.zip, md5sum:
   e075ce4e468f61a94fa22969d7f0e467)

3.Backup all personal data on your phone to make sure you have a copy of your personal data (e.g.,
   contacts, SMS, MMS, Internet settings, Wi-Fi passwords, and the like) in case the procedure in this guide
   erases such data.


Instructions

1.Copy the BAKED Blackbean ROM and inverted GApps packages to your phone’s internal SD card.
2.Turn your phone off.
3.Press and hold the Volume Up, Home, and Power buttons until ClockworkMod Recovery boots.
4.Create a NANDroid backup of your current ROM. Go to Backup and Restore and select Backup on the next screen.
5.Select Wipe data/factory reset and confirm the action on the next screen.
6.Select Wipe cache partition and confirm the action on the next screen.
7.Go to the main menu and select Advanced. From there, select Wipe Dalvik cache and confirm the action on the next screen.
8.Select Install ZIP from SD card.
9.Select Choose ZIP from SD card and choose the BAKED Blackbean ROM ZIP file. Confirm the action on the next screen to flash the ROM to your phone.
10.Go back and repeat steps 8 and 9 and flash the inverted GApps package.
11.Go back to the main menu and select Reboot system now to reboot your phone.

Now wait for it......Yipee!You have successfully flashed the BAKED Blackbean ROM on your Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3 SPH-L710.

Do tell me what you think in the comments

NFC Sharing Between Android And Windows Phone

Well good news for both Android as well as Windows Phone users.Well,it seems that it is possible to send things like contacts and web page URLs through NFC  between an Android device and a Windows Phone 8 device.In tests between a HTC Windows Phone 8X and a Samsung Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean it has been shown that URLs and contacts can be sent between the devices, in both directions. However, using NFC on Android is a little simpler and requires less taps than on Windows Phone 8.




                             It has been a long time since Android supported near field communication (NFC) but it has recently been ported to Windows Phone 8. The new mobile OS from Microsoft has a feature called “Tap + Send” which is available under the “More …” -> Share menu.

Don't get so excited,though.There is a limit on what can be sent between platforms. Using two devices with the same OS it is possible to share photos and videos between phones. But across the Windows – Android divide you get an error saying that large file transfers aren’t supported.

               Although this is all very good news for consumers, its bad news that photos & videos can't be sent.

Apple Faces Danger From Android

                                       Android is steadily growing its share almost all over the world and remains the world’s most popular operating system, according to the latest report by UK-based analysts from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

                 The Kantar report focuses on the state of the mobile market in the United States, the UK and Europe as a whole in the third quarter of 2015.

             According to the report,Android leads in the United States, but with less. Its commanding 66.4% share has shrunken down to 57.5%, cannibalized by the growth of the iPhone which now has a 35.7% share. Interestingly, RIM has now become less popular than Windows Phone, but both have a very marginal sub-3% representation in the States.

                       Outside the States, Android is the market leader growing share. In Great Britain, Android controls 58.2% of the market, followed by the iPhone with 28%.In Europe, Android has an impressive 67.1% while the iPhone is a distant second with 16.5%.

                 Interestingly  Kantar thinks that for the week or so of availability, the iPhone 5 has swung the stakes in favor of Apple:“We can see that in markets with a large number of existing Apple customers, sales have already seen a significant boost. We expect this momentum to be fully realized in the next set of results,“ Kantar analyst Dominic Sunnebo said.

700,000 Apps Now In Play Store

                  Just a few days earlier we saw that WP has 125000 apps in its store.While Apple was ahead in the numbers game as far as application in its store are concerned with Android, Google was quickly closing the gap. It appears that the Play Store has now reached another important landmark and has now, according to Mountain View, managed to catch up to Apple.

Satisfied,huh?

             
                        While its absolutely true that quantity is not the defining factor — as there are a lot of mediocre apps in  every application markets — Android fans will surely be excited to hear the news. Apple has just recently told everyone that it paid $6.5 billion to developers since the introduction of its online store. Also, the tablet market and dedicated apps seem to the a bragging topic: Apple is proud to have more than 275,000 applications developed especially for the iPad, while Google is still struggling in that specific chapter.

Galaxy S IV To Use Exynos 5450 Chipset

                    The Nexus 10 tablet uses the next-gen Exynos  chipset - an Exynos 5 with two Cortex-A15 cores at 1.7GHz and Mali-604 GPU (the same chipset as the new Chromebook).
                         So, rumors that the next Samsung Galaxy S IV will use an Exynos 5 chipset should come as no surprise. It points to the Exynos 5450 - with a quad-core A15 processor, clocked at 2GHz and a beefier Mali-658 GPU..




               Now, the main problem is power usage. With four Cortex-A15 cores and eight GPU cores, even a big battery would be drained pretty quickly. The Exynos 5450 will be made on a 28nm process (instead of 32nm as the Exynos 5250) and the CPU will probably be downclocked to at least 1.7GHz, but even then battery might be an issue.
                       Anyway, we wouldn't be surprised to see an Exynos 5250 inside next year's Galaxy S flagship,since the Galaxy S IV has to be made simply awesome.