Apple issues urgent iPhone update to fix security flaw

Apple has an urgent message for iPhone and iPad owners: Make sure you download the newest iOS update for your device.

The latest updates -- iOS 9.3.3 on iPhones and iPads, as well as OS X 10.11.6 for computers, tvOS 9.2.2 for Apple TV and watchOS 2.2.2 -- patches a hole that could let a hacker steal information from your device.

Without the update, your device could be compromised if you receive an infected iMessage or e-mail that contains a bad *.tiff image file. The file contains a code that gives hackers access to everything stored on your phone including your passwords. The worse part - you don't have to download anything for the malware to be installed since iMessage and Safari automatically render an "image" as soon as it is received.

You can, however, turn off iMessage on your phone and disable MMS messaging, to prevent your device from automatically downloading any images, malicious or otherwise.

Many people don't worry about malware on Apple devices, unlike Windows computers, but this is one of those rare cases where iPhones have a vulnerability to a specific threat. Also, Apple calls this an update you don't want to ignore.

Devices should prompt users to install the updates. To check to make sure you're running the latest version, go to Settings: General: Software Update or go to this Apple support page.

Resource: http://6abc.com/technology/dont-ignore-apples-latest-ios-update/1447137/

Samsung Galaxy S8 latest updates: New flagship rumored to be world's first 'real' 4K smartphone

Along with the looming release date of Samsung's latest-generation Note phablet smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, reports are now coming out regarding the company's newest upcoming flagship smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the S8 Edge. While majority of the reports are unverified yet, most of them have based their claims on the latest technology Samsung has available, which could be incorporated into the upcoming flagship smartphones.

Rumors regarding the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Edge have claimed that the smartphones may be the world's first "real" 4K smartphones with a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 pixels. While Sony had previously claimed the title with the release of its Sony Xperia Z5 Premium, Sony's flagship smartphone was only able to display that resolution for photos and a select number of videos. The upcoming Galaxy S8, on the other hand, is expected to show this resolution natively with all its apps and other available media streaming in 4K.

The rumored UHD 5.5-inch 4K display is of course perfect for virtual reality (VR) consumption and the upcoming new smartphones are expected to be bundled with a new-generation Samsung Gear VR headset. To power that new VR headset, some reports have claimed that the devices might be coming with Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 830 chipset, which will be paired with a huge 6GB of random access memory (RAM). There will be of course a variant with an Exynos chipset for emerging markets just as it was with the device's predecessors.

The brand-new Gear VR headset is expected to be unveiled alongside the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 during the special unveiling event that is scheduled to be held on Aug. 2. The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Edge, meanwhile, are expected to be launched at the upcoming 2017 Mobile World Congress happening in February next year.
Resource :http://www.mnrdaily.com/article/samsung-galaxy-s8-latest-updates-new-flagship-rumored-to-be-worlds-first-real-4k-smartphone/12086.htm

Samsung Doubles Apple's Share of Smartphone Market as Customers Await iPhone 7

The latest data from market research firm IDC reveals that Samsung shipped nearly twice as many smartphones as Apple in the fiscal third quarter. Android-based Galaxy smartphone shipments totaled an estimated 77 million, compared to 40.4 million iPhones, during the three-month period that ended in late June. For Apple, the fiscal third quarter is seasonally its lowest of the year.

Samsung was the most popular smartphone vendor in the quarter with a leading 22.4 percent market share, nearly double Apple's 11.8 percent market share. Samsung experienced 5.5 percent year-over-year growth on the strength of the Galaxy S7 launch in March, whereas Apple declined 15 percent compared to the year-ago quarter as customers await the iPhone 7 series in September.

One bright spot for Apple was the lower-priced iPhone SE, although the iPhone's average selling price dropped to $595 compared to $662 last year:

    Apple’s second quarter saw the Cupertino-based giant ship 40.4 million iPhones, representing a 15.0% year-over-year decline from the 47.5 million units shipped last year. The new 4-inch iPhone SE proved successful in both emerging and developed markets as the new SE has captured many first-time smartphone buyers as well as Android users switching over to the Apple ecosystem. The success of the cheaper SE did, however, have an impact on the overall average selling price (ASP) for an iPhone in the quarter. The ASP for an iPhone was $595, down 10.1% from $662 one year ago. As smartphone competition continues to escalate and upgrades continue to slow, Apple will look to drive sales with a newly designed iPhone 7 combined with their upgrade program come this fall.

Apple also ceded market share to Chinese rival Huawei, which ranked third among smartphone vendors with an estimated 32.1 million shipments and 9.4 percent market share. Huawei manufactures Google's popular Nexus 6P and introduced new dual-camera P9 and P9 Plus smartphones in April, but its presence in the United States and other regions is still limited compared to China.

Chinese rivals OPPO and Vivo rounded out the top five smartphone vendors with quarterly sales of 22.6 million and 16.4 million units respectively. OPPO in particular saw explosive 136.6 percent year-over-year growth over the three months, increasing its market share to 6.6 percent compared to 2.8 percent in the year-ago quarter. Vivo had 9.1 percent market share, an 80.2 percent year-over-year change.

Worldwide smartphone shipments totaled an estimated 343.3 million units in the quarter, an increase of only 0.3 percent from the year-ago quarter, when vendors shipped an estimated 342.4 million units. The relatively flat growth is the result of market saturation and lengthening upgrade cycles, which vendors have attempted to offset by offering incentives such as the iPhone Upgrade Program.

On Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company recently sold its 1 billionth iPhone.
Resource:  http://www.macrumors.com/2016/07/28/samsung-doubles-apple-share-ahead-iphone-7/

BlackBerry DTEK50 ‘super secure’ Android smartphone launched: Price, specifications and feature

Still trying to revive its glory days, BlackBerry today announced a new Android smartphone, the DTEK50. Positioned as the world’s most secure Android smartphone, it comes preloaded with a DTEK security application which monitors OS and apps and keeps users informed if their privacy is at risk. The app also notifies users when someone is taking pictures or videos, or sending text message from your device without their knowledge.

BlackBerry promises to deliver timely security patches, one of the major issues that the Android smartphones grapple with. As you would expect from BlackBerry, it has made several tweaks in the software to offer a stringent security. Along with timely updates, BlackBerry has added an ‘Address Space Layout Randomization’, a feature that scrambles system memory to make it difficult for hackers to breach the security. It says it has included a better bootloader that ensures a more secure boot process and that only BlackBerry-signed OS can be installed on the device. Also, it has a FIPS 140-2 Compliant Full Disk Encryption, which is supposed to protect users’ private information in case of theft or lost.

Taking things a bit too far, BlackBerry is even calling the anti-smudge coating on the display, that many other smartphones also have, a security feature. BlackBerry says that how oily residue from fingers left on phone screens can be used to steal passwords and other sensitive information. The BlackBerry DTEK50 comes with an oleophobic coating that for avoiding smudges on the display. Besides a big focus on software and security, the BlackBerry DTEK50 also happens to be BlackBerry’s slimmest smartphone so far with a thickness of 7.4mm.

BlackBerry DTEK50 specifications

The BlackBerry DTEK50 seems to be a rebranded version of the Alcatel Idol 4, which comes with almost same set of specifications. It is worth pointing out here that Alcatel was rumored to be manufacturing BlackBerry’s next smartphone. The BlackBerry DTEK50 has a 5.2-inch full HD display with an oil-resistant coating to protect against fingerprint smudges. The smartphone runs Qualcomm 617 octa-core processor along with 3GB of RAM. It comes with 16GB of internal storage, expandable up to 2TB via the microSD card.
BlackBerry DTEK50 features

The smartphone comes with 13-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front facing camera. The smartphone is powered by a 2,610 mAh battery. It comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the-box along with BlackBerry’s security, privacy and productivity suite integration. It comes preloaded with BlackBerry Hub, a consolidated platform for communications such as including email, calendar, social, or phone calls.
BlackBerry DTEK50 price

The BlackBerry DTEK50 is available for pre-order in select markets including the US, Canada and UK. The smartphone is priced at $299, which is Rs 20,000 approximately. Right now there’s no word on the availability of the smartphone in Indian market as yet.

The BlackBerry DTEK50 will be priced below Rs 25,000 when it is launched in India. At that price it doesn’t really offer the most competitive set of specifications. While the security features are certainly the USP, it remains to be seen whether BlackBerry has the same pull it used to have a few years ago.

Resource: http://www.bgr.in/news/blackberry-dtek50-super-secure-android-smartphone-launched-price-specifications-and-feature/

LG X Screen smartphone with dual display, Android Marshmallow launched at Rs 12,990

Highlights
LG X Screen is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor coupled with 2GB RAM, has 16GB in-built storage, houses a 2,300mAh battery and sports 13MP rear and 8MP front cameras.


NEW DELHI: LG has launched its latest X series smartphone in India. The LG X Screen is priced at Rs 12,990 the smartphone and will be exclusively available on Snapdeal.

The South Korean giant announced the new mid-range X series of 'specialists' smartphones at the Mobile World Congress 2016 in February this year. In the same month, the company also launched the X Screen smartphone in its home country Korea.

LG has claimed that every smartphone in the series will boasts of a special feature. And as the name suggests, LG X screen seems to have screen as its 'special' feature. LG X Screen boasts of dual-display. The handset has a 4.93-inch primary display and a secondary 'Always-on' screen measuring 1.76-inch, similar to the one in LG's V10.


The second screen can be used to access frequently-used apps, answer calls without interrupting the current activity, check time, date, battery status and other notifications without turning on the smartphone.


LG X Screen is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor coupled with 2GB RAM, has 16GB in-built storage, houses a 2,300mAh battery and sports 13MP rear and 8MP front cameras. The smartphone measures 142.6 x 71.8 x 7.1mm and will be available in Black, White and Pink Gold colour options. The handset runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system out-of-the-box.

Recently, LG launched the Stylus Plus 2 smartphone in India priced at Rs 24,450. The handset sports a 5.7-inch Full HD IPS Quantum display with 1080x1920 pixels resolution. It is powered by a 1.4GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor along with Adreno 505 GPU, 3GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage which can be further expanded up to 200GB via microSD card.


LG Stylus 2 Plus comes with a stylus pen with nano-coated tip for more accuracy compared to the previous rubber-tipped pen on LG Stylus. The Pen Pop features toggles, a pop-up menu when the stylus is removed to offer shortcuts to Pop Memo and Pop Scanner. The device comes with a Pen Keeper to prevent the stylus from being misplaced by displaying a pop-up message when the phone is detected as being in motion when the stylus bay is empty.
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Resource: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/mobiles/LG-X-Screen-smartphone-with-dual-display-Android-Marshmallow-launched-at-Rs-12990/articleshow/53266552.cms

Amazon is subsidising Android smartphones with its apps, ads

Amazon is offering latest Moto G for $150 instead of $200 and Blu R1 HD will go for $50 instead of $100
Amazon is back in the phone business – sort of.

After its own Fire phone flopped, Amazon is selling special editions of other manufacturers’ phones at a $50 discount. They’ll come with ads on the lock screen and lots of Amazon apps on the home screen. You can hide those apps, but won’t be able to uninstall them.

Amazon.com Inc. is touting the discount as a benefit of its $100-a-year Prime loyalty program. Membership is required, and Amazon figures that those customers will appreciate having single sign-in access to Amazon’s various services without having to download about 10 individual apps for video, Kindle e-books, music and, of course, shopping.

Apart from the presence of Amazon apps, the new phones will bear little resemblance to the Fire. For one thing, there’s no high-tech wizardry like infrared cameras to track your positions and make images appear to be 3-D. There’s also no Firefly technology for scanning bar codes, business cards and various products, though a lower-tech cousin called Flow is available.

Most importantly, the new phones will run a standard version of Google’s Android system, rather than Amazon’s highly modified version, called Fire OS. That means the phones will run the range of apps available for Android. The Fire phone ran only a subset, turning the phone into little more than a tool for directing users back to Amazon’s own services.

Seattle-based Amazon took a $170 million write-down related to the Fire phone in 2014 following mediocre reviews and lackluster sales.

Under the new program, Amazon is offering Motorola’s latest Moto G phone for $150 instead of $200. The R1 HD phone from a Florida phone company called Blu will go for $50 instead of $100. There’s no two-year service contract with either.

Amazon has long sold other manufacturers’ phones, but these are the first with Amazon apps and ads built in, akin to Amazon’s own tablets and e-readers. Orders begin Wednesday, and the phones start shipping July 12 – which Amazon says is the same day regular editions of both are available to the public.

Amazon is also selling regular editions at full price, without the ads or Amazon apps. Prime membership wouldn’t be required.

For the special editions, Amazon says the lock-screen ads won’t block incoming notifications. They will be personalized based on shopping and other Amazon activities, not what you do elsewhere on the phone, according to the company. Amazon offers ads with other devices, too – typically selling for $15 or $20 less, rather than the $50 discount with phones.

The special editions are unlocked, meaning customers will be able to switch carriers, though restrictions apply because the four major carriers use two competing network technologies.

Resource: http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/mobile-tabs/amazon-prime-subsidised-smartphones-android-lockscreen-ads-2885853/

Two Android N-based Nokia smartphones leaked

NEW DELHI: Two smartphones running the latest Android Nougat operating system with Nokia branding have surfaced online. Both the devices, however, are made by the newly-formed HMD Global.

For those unaware in May, Microsoft had announced that it will move senior executives to HMD Global to revive the glory of Nokia brand. HMD Global has full operational control on design, branding, sales and marketing of Nokia-branded devices.

According to GizmoChina, the Nokia Android smartphones will sport 2K resolution displays and will come in 5.2-inch and 5.7-inch sizes. Both the handsets will have IP68 certification, making them water and dust-resistant.

The report suggests that the smartphones will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoCs and might sport a metal body.

Nokia is already gearing up to make a global comeback in the smartphone market with HMD Global and its Taiwanese partner, FIH Mobile of FoxConn Technology Group, taking over Microsoft's feature phone business for $350 million, which it had bought from Nokia in 2014,

HMD is owned by Smart Connect LP, a private equity fund managed by former Nokia executive Jean-Francois Baril and its management. Nokia is yet to provide any timetable for new devices. The deal between Microsoft and HMD is expected to close in the second half of 2016.

Microsoft has struggled with the phones business and last year wrote off $7.5 billion from the former Nokia unit.


Nokia was the world's top mobile phone maker between 1998 and 2011 but was overtaken by South Korean rival Samsung after failing to respond to the rapid rise of smartphones.



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Resource: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Two-Android-N-based-Nokia-smartphones-leaked/articleshow/53288588.cms

Nokia Android smartphones with Snapdragon 820 SoC, 2K displays leaked

It’s no secret that Nokia is planning a return to the smartphone space, and earlier this year, it signed an exclusive licensing deal worth $350 million with HMD Global to manufacture its products. A leak now suggests that Nokia will mark its return with two high-end Android smartphones.

A report by GizmoChina hints at two Nokia Android smartphones with 5.2-inch and 5.5-inch display sizes. Both these displays will feature QHD (2560×1440 pixels) resolution, and will be powered by a Snapdragon 820 chipset. However by the time they launch, these smartphones are likely to be powered by the newer Snapdragon 821 chipset. The bigger of the two variants is also expected to  feature a 22.6-megapixel rear camera.

Most importantly, the report says that these smartphones will boast a robust, yet premium metallic design, and the overall feel will be very Nokia-like. These smartphones will also feature IP68 certification, which will make them resistant to dust and water like the Samsung Galaxy S7. On the software front, both smartphones will run on the latest Android Nougat out-of-the-box.

The report further claims that these leaked Nokia Android smartphones are likely to be launched in China sometime in the first quarter of 2017. The bigger of the two smartphones is also expected to be priced somewhere close to 3,000 Yuan (Rs 30,000 approximately).

ALSO READ: BlackBerry and Nokia may still have a chance in the smartphone market: Report

This is by no means the first alleged Nokia Android smartphone leak we have come across. Ever since CEO Rajeev Suri confirmed Nokia’s imminent return into the smartphone space, we have come across leaks about alleged smartphones called Nokia C1 and Nokia P1.

Of the two, the Nokia P1 is expected to be a rebranded Sharp Aquos P1 smartphone. Currently available in select markets, Sharp’s smartphone features a 5.3-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 820 processor, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of expandable storage. It also comes with a 22.6-megapixel primary camera, 3,000mAh battery with fast charging support and IP58 certification.

Despite the number of reports we have come across so far, we would advice a bit of patience and take all these leaks with the proverbial pinch of salt.

Resource: http://www.bgr.in/news/nokia-android-smartphones-with-snapdragon-820-soc-2k-displays-leaked/