Welcome to Tech and General News Arena: August 2014

Sunday, 31 August 2014

WhatsApp for Android Wear exits beta

The latest version of the popular messaging application WhatsApp now officially supports Google’s Android Wear wearable platform.

The latest updates allows for full message viewing on wearable devices, nested message navigation, and voice reply capabilities.

Version 3.11.362 of WhatsApp officially went live live on Friday, and the team has squashed a number of bugs present in the beta build alongside making improvements to message storage reliability.

Head over to Google Play to grab the latest version of WhatsApp for Android.

We’re expecting many more Android Wear wearables to be introduced at the IFA trade show in Berlin next week, so be sure to check back with us!

Done Deal : Dutch International Signs With Weakened Manchester United

Manchester United have made a further signing in this transfer window, finally completing the much talked about capture of Dutch international Daley Blind as reported on United’s official website. Blind flew into England on Saturday after Amsterdam club side Ajax accepted a bid in the region of $23 million.

Whilst still needing to pass a medical and agree personal terms, once completed, Blind will bring much needed versatility to a United squad that many feel needs a drastic overhaul to get back to the winnings ways that the Old Trafford faithful are so used to seeing.

Motorola Moto G 4G review: Going fast

The Motorola Moto G was so close to perfection - beautiful design, reasonable speed and performance, excellent display, capable camera and the pure Android experience at a bargain price. And we mean the kind of price that makes any quirk or omission easily forgiven. Like limited storage or a poor camera. By throwing in LTE and a card slot, the Moto G 4G makes sure there's a lot less to forgive.

If we were to name a smartphone to get an upgrade and handpick the specs, the Moto G would've been on the shortlist. And pretty high there, too. Glad it made sense to Motorola as well.

Motorola Moto G 4G official pictures

To be fair, the Moto G was fine the way it was. Screen quality well above the pay grade, a good enough chipset, reasonable battery backup, no heavy skin. Bottom line, one of the best packages for the money just got better, with the right touches at the right places.

Turkish Super Lig club, Fenerbahce, announced yesterday Friday August 29th that they have released Nigeria defender Joseph Yobo. Fenerbahce announced on their official website that due to restriction in the number of foreign players, the club and Yobo had to part ways.

Both parties mutually agreed to terminate their contract this week on the eve of the start of the Turkish top flight this term.Yobo is now expected to be honoured at Fenerbahce's opening game of the season against Karabukspor.

Japan's Panasonic will develop a water purification system together with India's TataGroup, tapping into a fast-growing market in Asia, a media report said Saturday.

The electronics giant has developed a prototype of a device that will detoxify harmful substances in groundwater, making it potentially safe to drink, the Japanese economic daily Nikkei said.

What is a Top Freezer?
We think of a top freezer as a break away from the conventional single door refrigerator. It all started with a rising middle class, with larger disposable incomes and even larger needs and desires. There was a need for a fridge that could store much more than just water bottles, bread and butter, plus, a larger and a separate space for a freezer and cold storage.

Home appliances experts explained how top freezers are a hot choice among the nuclear middle and upper middle class families. An average Indian household consumes less frozen food products than its western counterpart; hence this design with a dedicated space for daily item storage is something that works for most people.

Lost in Nowhereland with no Internet connection as far as you can see? As always, Google Maps can help you find your way back, as long as you have an iOS or an Android device, even if you are offline. Google recently added a feature to Google Maps, which lets you save maps to your phone.
Yes, you can now check maps even when there is no Internet connection. The downside is that you will not have access to route information, addresses, navigation, traffic, and a host of other data that require an Internet connection. However, having map data for reference might just save you a lot of time. Here's how to use this nifty feature on iOS and Android. The steps are identical for both platforms.

WhatsApp is the world's most popular messaging app, with over 600 million active users. One of the most common annoyances with the app is that it automatically downloads media files (photos and audio) by default. WhatsApp says this is optimised for best performance, but when friends decide to send a dozen pictures of their dinner to everyone they know, it is optimised for maximum annoyance instead. Here's how you can stop WhatsApp from automatically saving photos and audio on your phone.

Intel has unveiled its first eight-core desktop processor, the i7-5960X Intel Core Extreme Edition processor, alongside two new hexa-core offerings, all members of the product family formerly named Haswell-E.

"We're thrilled to unveil the next phase in our 'reinvention of the desktop' we outlined earlier this year," said Lisa Graff, Vice President and General Manager, Intel's Desktop Client Platform Group. "This product family is aimed squarely at those enthusiasts who push their systems further than anyone, and we're offering the speed, cores, overclocking and platform capabilities they have asked us for."

Boost Mobile has launched yet another ZTE Warp series Android smartphone in the Warp Sync for $179.99. The Warp Sync features a 5-inch display at with a Gorilla Glass 2 front and a quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor with 2GB of RAM. The Warp Sync also features an 8-megapixel main camera and a 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera. The Warp Sync is also the first smartphone from ZTE capable of accessing Sprint Spark and HD Voice access. Other specs include a 2,300mAh battery, mobile hotspot support, Mobile ID pack support, and Android 4.4 KitKat.

T-Mobile To Launch Two New Entry-Level Alcatel Smartphones

OneTouch, operating under the Alcatel brand has announced the future launch of two new entry-level Alcatel smartphones in the Fierce 2 and Evolve 2, both updates to their previous entry-level Fierce and Evolve models from last year for T-Mobile. The Fierce 2 features a 5-inch qHD resolution display and is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor with 1GB of RAM. The camera also features HDR, panorama, and burst modes and a 2,000mAh battery. The Evolve 2 features a 4-inch WVGA resolution display and is powered by a 1.3GHz dual-core processor with 512MB of RAM and a 1,4000mAh battery. Both phones run Android 4.4 KitKat, include a 5-megapixel main camera, VGA front-facing cameras, 4GB of built-in storage, support for microSD cards up to 32GB, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios. Both phones will be launched later next month.

Two Carriers Now Interested In FreedomPop Purchase

Current Sprint MVNO FreedomPop has seen exponential growth since launching in 2012 on the premise of free monthly data access for all. Now after two years that have seen its business grow to over 100,000 users and multiple product launches that include iPod sleeves, Android smartphones and hotspots, the company is close to being acquired, with two carriers now showing interest in the startup. The latest report from Bloomberg Businessweek pegs the acquisition cost in the nine figure range, with the company adding so many customers every quarter that it claims it will have 1 million customers by this time next year, which would mean a 50% increase in customers every quarter since its 2012 launch.

Nintendo announces updated 3DS and 3DS XL

Nintendo has announced updates for its popular 3DS and 3DS XL portable consoles. The new versions feature significant improvements and will replace the current consoles.

One of the additions is a second joystick called C-stick on the right side above the action button. The C-stick is a tiny nub with questionable ergonomics but will help support games like Monster Hunter without having to use accessories like the Circle Pad Pro monstrosity.

The new models also have two additional shoulder buttons on the back, named ZL and ZR. The display can now adjust brightness automatically and also has improved 3D, which tracks the position of your head using the front camera and adjusts the parallax of the 3D so it always remains in focus even if you look at it from the side.

Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro hands-on

Lenovo announced its Vibe Z2 Pro high-end smartphone at the end of July and the device is set to make an appearance at IFA 2014 in Berlin next week. Luckily, you won’t have to wait until then to find out our initial impressions of the 6” QHD monster, as we got to spend some quality time with the phablet a little early.

The Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro also marks the company’s high-end entrance in Europe and is its first smartphone with a QHD display.

The Snapdragon 801 chipset at work inside the Vibe Z2 Pro is fast as a lightning thanks to its 2.5GHz quad-core Krait 400 CPU, Adreno 330 GPU and 3GB of RAM. It runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat out of the box with a custom Lenovo skin on top.

Google Maps update brings Hindi language support

Google has released an update to the Maps application on Android. v8.3 brings with it support for Hindi language. Along with extending to the UI of the app, the Hindi language will also be available for voice navigation. This should be beneficial to the vast number of Hindi speaking people in India and other countries.

Along with the language option, 8.3 also brings improved notifications support for Android Wear devices. Other than that there are the usual bug fixes.

The update can be downloaded from the link below.

Download

Samsung compares Galaxy Tab S to iPad Air on the streets of NYC

Samsung’s latest ad for the Galaxy Tab S line (and specifically, in this case, the Galaxy Tab S 10.5) was filmed on the streets of New York City. The Korean company sent a representative to talk to random people and ask them what they think about the tablet.

The twist, however, is that said guy also had an iPad Air on him, and this allowed for some interesting hands-on comparisons between Samsung’s flagship tablet and Apple’s.

As you’d expect from a Samsung ad, every single person on the street seems to be in favor of the Galaxy Tab S over the latest full size iPad.

Saturday, 30 August 2014

12.9inch iPad shown off and Ready for Release

Rumors of Apple intending to release a 12.9inch iPad is already going through the internet within the past few hours.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) first release the notion that Apple will release a 13" iPad in one of their articles in 2013.

Mom Develops App That Shutdown Phone If SMS is Ignored

A lot of people get mad when they text someone and no reply is seen however parents hates it even more when they send SMS to their wards without a response especially when it's an emergency.

Well, one mom decided it's high time she did something about the issue; consequently she resorted to building a smartphone app that will shut down the phone if her text message is ever ignored or not replied.

A few weeks after Apple was granted a European trademark on the key design elements of its retail stores, the company has been awarded a U.S. patent on the iconic glass cube design of its Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan. Steve Jobs is one of those credited as an inventor.

Patently Apple reports that Apple also applied for a trademark for the design back in 2010, but no decision has yet been made on that.

Apple was granted a patent for the similarly iconic glass cylinder design for its Shanghai store back in 2012.

These amazing photos show two lions as they fought to be the King of the Jungle and also for the attention of a lioness in Masa Mara, Kenya and luckily for us photographers were there to take some unbelievable snaps.

The two male lions, who are actually brothers, were captured on camera by Laurent Renaud and Dominique Haution, who are French seasoned safari photographers.

"When lions want to overtake a pride, the old lions fight with the new ones. But seeing two lion brothers fighting, one against the other is a very rare sighting. We were very lucky to witness it, and both lions unfortunately ended up with serious wounds. But that's just what happens in the wild and we would never interfere with nature." Laurent said

She also said just 15 minutes after the lions finished scrapping, the triumphant brother went and mated with his lioness as a prize. See photos of the fight after the cut...

Lol. These Americans don't have work at all. So last night US president Barack Obama held a very important press conference at the White House where he talked about very serious issues like the crimes of ISIS in Iraq and Russian's actions in Ukraine. Thing is; most people didn't care about that. They were more interested in the tan suit Obama wore to the press conference. His suit sent Twitter users into meltdown. You won't believe some of the things they wrote with the hashtag #YesWeTan. Hilarious! See them after the cut

Some of you may not know this but rapper 50 Cent and comedienne/talk-show host Chelsea Handler dated for a couple of months back in 2012. A few weeks after they broke up, Chelsea embarrassed the hell out of 50 after she told radio DJ Howard Stern that she dumped him and called him a street person because his side chick at the time, Ciara, kept stalking them.

Apparently all is forgiven because 50 Cent showed up for the final episode of 'Chelsea Lately on E!

On stage, Chelsea, who admitted she hadn't seen the rapper since their nasty break-up, joked,

"I wanted to apologize because I did end our relationship abruptly and I know you didn’t come on the show for many years...but I want you to know that I have not dated a black man since. They say, ‘Once you go black, you never go back’ You come running back!”

See what Chelsea said about 50 Cent and Ciara back in 2012 after the cut...

According to The Cable, the dissolution of the marriage between Christ Embassy Church founder, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, and his wife, Rev. Anita Odegwa Oyakhilome, has entered the final phase.

The wife is seeking divorce on the grounds of “unreasonable behaviour” and “adultery”. She outlined several allegations against the pastor which cannot publish for legal reasons. The divorce case, with Suit No FD14D01650, was filed on April 9, 2014 at Divorce Section A, Central Family Court, First Avenue House, High Holborn, London, UK, on Anita’s behalf by Attwaters Jameson Hill Solicitors, a full-service law firm with expertise in commercial law and a strong consumer focus in family, wills and estate, personal injury law and medical negligence.

Efforts to reconcile the popular couple, whose church is one of the biggest denominations in Nigeria and has branches all over world, have failed. They have two teenage daughters, Sharon and Charlyn."

ISIS militants yesterday released a video showing them executing about 300 Syrian soldiers they captured near the Tabqa air base as the soldiers attempted to flee the fallen air base in Raqqa, Syria.

They stripped the soldiers down to their briefs, took them to the desert, lined them up and executed them. Then hours later, they posted another video showing captured Kurd fighters wearing orange prison uniforms. This time they executed only one....beheaded him on video (pictured right)...while warning the Kurds to break from their alliance with the US government against the caliphate or face more capture and executions.

Islamic State also threatened America in the video, warning them to cease its support of the Kurdish people or they will continuing beheading prisoners, including Americans. See the photos below

Bolaji, a final year law student at the University of Warwick is a young Nigerian lady whose passion for singing prompted colleagues, friends and relatives into canvassing her to do a cover of John Legend's All Of Me. Though, a singer and pianist in church from the very tender age of 14, she's yet to decide on doing music professionally. However, her soulful voice, thoughtful lyrics and irrepressible confidence was so captivating at an event such that a fan in the crowd called on her afterwards to apply for the ITV2 competition currently going in the UK. Hence, the need for this internet video for her rendition of All Of Me. Continue...

Nokia Lumia 735 with LTE gets pictured in black and white

Next week Microsoft has a pre-IFA event scheduled in Berlin, during which it's widely been expected to unveil two new smartphones - the Lumia 830 and the Lumia 730. However, it turns out that a third device may join them - the Lumia 735.

This is basically going to be the LTE-capable version of the oft-leaked Lumia 730, which itself will apparently only come in a 3G dual-SIM iteration.

The Lumia 730 and Lumia 735 are allegedly pictured next to each other in the images you see above and below this paragraph. They seem to have starred in a photo shoot over in China.

Lenovo Vibe X2 stars in hands-on photo shoot

Just yesterday the Lenovo Vibe X2 was spotted getting certified for sale in China by TENAA, the relevant authority for this purpose. That event yielded a few pictures of the device, but they were rather blurry and low quality.

Today a new set of images showing the Lenovo Vibe X2 has been uncovered in China, and these ones are of the hands-on type, showing the smartphone in all its glory.

Lenovo Vibe X2

The design of the Vibe X2 is much more clear in this set of pictures, as are the three mysterious metal contacts on the phone's back. They could be used for connecting an accessory or two.

HTC One (E8) now available at Sprint for $99.99

A couple of weeks ago a leaked video told us that the HTC One (E8) would be headed to Sprint in the US, and today the carrier has announced that the smartphone is available for order.

So you can already go ahead to Sprint's website and purchase the One (E8) in either Polar White or Misty Gray.

The price you'll need to pay for this handset varies based on what method you choose. If you want to go the traditional two-year contract route, it will set you back $99.99.

Nike+ Running app for Samsung Gear S gets announced

Samsung and Nike have announced today that they’re partnering up to bring the Nike+ Running app to the Samsung Gear S smartwatch.

The watch was made official yesterday, and it is Samsung’s first wearable that can work independently of a smartphone. The Nike app will be able to exploit this capability, by tracking your moves and mapping your runs using only the GPS and 3G connection built into the Gear S.

Microsoft Surface 3 Pro now available in 25 more countries

Microsoft is expanding the availability of the Surface Pro 3 (which recently got a price cut) with 25 new countries (up from just 3!). The Docking Station is available for pre-order in those same regions.

The company calls the Surface “the tablet that can replace your laptop” and has an infographic to prove the need for its hybrid device. The company surveyed 2,900 professionals in eight Asia-Pacific markets and found that half travel between different cities for their work and four out of five carry three different devices devices.

Nokia HERE Maps to provide free, offline navigation to Samsung Galaxy smartphones

Samsung and Nokia have announced that HERE Maps are arriving in beta form on Android, free for Galaxy phones. HERE comes with voice-guided navigation capabilities and will work offline too, something which Google Maps doesn’t allow.

You can download offline maps for nearly 200 countries, about half of which support turn-by-turn walk or drive instructions. In around 40 countries you also get live traffic information (which does require an Internet connection). HERE also supports public transport navigation.

The Here.com site lets you pick out destinations, which will be synced with your device. You can also share destinations with your friends and family to improve the planning process.

Microsoft updates Windows Store app policy, removes over 1500 fake apps

Microsoft recently reported that a large number of its Windows Store apps are misleading users with inaccurate titles and descriptions. This has prompted the company to purge more than 1500 apps from its app catalog.

The removal of the apps in question comes as part of an attempt by Microsoft to improve the quality of its app selection, and is also reflected by the company’s updated app certification requirements.

The new requirements include:

Samsung’s Gear smartwatches to get HERE services from Nokia

Nokia has teased the inclusion of its robust HERE services suite, which includes Maps and Navigation among others to make its way onto Samsung’s Gear series of wearables.

Among those devices slated to get the HERE services is Samsung’s just-announced Gear S smartwatch, which will get turn-by-turn pedestrian navigation courtesy of Nokia’s service.

Currently, most of Samsung’s Gear wearables run on the company’s in-house Tizen OS, which Samsung debuted with the latest generation of the smartwatches. It’s unknown whether Tizen will be able to support more robust HERE applications than the pedestrian navigation on the Gear S.

The teaser, which Nokia posted on Twitter, is accompanied by the message “Tune in for more news tomorrow at 10am London time.” We’ll have to wait and see what Nokia has in store for Samsung wearables – maybe one day we’ll see an Android Wear-powered Gear with HERE maps to boot.

LG G Watch R gets officially priced in Germany

LG Germany spilled the beans on the price tag of the freshly announced G Watch R. The sleek-looking wearable with curved P-OLED display will cost €299 when it hits the shelves in Germany in October.

The above pricing makes the LG G Watch R the most expensive Android Wear device to date. Both the original LG G Watch and the Samsung Gear Live cost significantly less.

Pricing of the LG G Watch R in the United States is still unknown. The USD equivalent of €299 is close to $400 ($394 to be exact), thus potentiallymaking the gadget quite pricey, despite its premium nature.

NVIDIA Shield Tablet gets a major software update

NVIDIA is rolling out its first software update for the Shield Tablet, and it brings with it a lot of bug fixes and performance updates.

Version 1.1 will bring with it improvements to Wi-Fi stability, camera performance, ShadowPlay feature, audio optimizations, and a few other things. You can find the full changelog below.

Improved WiFi stability in certain scenarios
Improved camera performance
NVIDIA PRISM feature toggle
Stability improvements to SHIELD Hub and Gamestream
ShadowPlay performance optimizations
Localization improvements
Audio optimizations
Misc. stability improvements

If you have an NVIDIA Shield Tablet, you should check to see if the update is available for install.

Moto Maker is down, getting ready for the new phones perhaps?

Is Motorola trying to pull Apple’s move of shutting down the online store right before the launch of a new phone?

This is pure speculation, of course, but the thing is the Moto Maker is down for “a tune up.”

There’s no reason for either Apple or Motorola to disable the online store while adding a new device but it creates drama and attracts attention.

HTC Desire 820 may have a quad-core 64-bit CPU

HTC already unveiled one of the first Android smartphones with a 64-bit Snapdragon chipset, the Desire 510, but it's saving the higher-end phone for IFA. The HTC Desire 820 teasers initially suggested it will be the first phone with a 64-bit octa-core processor.

One of the popular leaker accounts on Twitter has provided more info on the device – it will be a 5.5" phablet with a 720p screen, 13MP main camera, 8MP front-facing camera (!) and a 2,600mAh battery.

The chipset is listed as MSM8916, which is the same Snapdragon 410 chipset with quad-core processor that the Desire 510 is based on. It will allegedly come paired with 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of storage.

The octa-core info came from a post on Chinese social network Weibo so there could be two versions of the Desire 820, HTC has put out more powerful, Asia-only versions before. Or it could be that the rumored info is wrong, we'll find out for sure next Thursday.

Kantar: Android takes a bite out of iOS in the US

The latest smartphone manufacturer sales metrics provided by consumer analytics firm Kantar Worldpanel show that Android has increased its US market share by over 11 points compared to last year, for the three month period ending in July. Most of this gain comes at the expense of iOS, which has lost 11.8 points over the same period.

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Sunday, 31 August 2014

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