Samsung to delay its smartwatch launch until Apple Watch hype dies down: Report

Samsung is known to be working on a new smartwatch to take on the Apple Watch. Now, a new report by SamMobile, known to provide accurate details about unannounced Samsung products, now reveals that the company plans to delay the launch of its new smartwatch until the hype around the Apple Watch dies down.

SamMobile has learnt that the launch has been pushed to the second half of the year, most likely September alongside the Galaxy Note 5, so that the company can “follow a proper time table with its product launches, and possibly to give the market time to settle down with the Apple Watch’. Needless to say, Apple Watch is the most talked-about smartwatch. Moroever, Samsung already has several failed attempts at wooing audiences with a smartwatch.

Samsung has announced a slew of other watches in the past (none have managed to make an impact), but the highlight of the upcoming wearable is its round face. This is the first Samsung smartwatch with a round face. We have previously seen the similar pattern being followed by Motorola with the Moto 360 and LG with the G Watch R smartwatches adopting circular screens.

It will reportedly also come with a ‘rotating bezel ring’. It is internally codenamed Orbis, but could be launched as ‘Gear A’.

Interestingly, we’ve been hearing about this smartwatch for quite some time now. It was earlier rumoured to be announced at MWC and hit stores on the same day as the Apple Watch.

Now, it is expected to be announced at the IFA 2015. At the IFA, the company is also expected to announce the Galaxy Note 5. We may see just one variant of the Note 5, featuring a 2K or 4K Super AMOLED display and powered by an Exynos 7422 processor. Besides, Samsung will also launch the Project Zen that is likely to replace the Galaxy Note Edge. It won’t simply be a variant of the Note 5 with a curved display, but a completely new product.

Posted by : Gizmeon

Apple in talks with Alibaba to launch Apple Pay in China: Report

Apple Inc is in talks with Chinese banks and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd on launching the firm’s mobile payments system in China, Chief Executive Tim Cook told the official Xinhua news agency in an interview.

“We very much want to get Apple Pay in China,” Cook told Xinhua during a visit to the country. “I’m very bullish on Apple Pay in China.” Apple could not immediately be reached to comment on the report.

Apple Pay, which allows consumers using Apple devices to buy goods by holding the device up to readers installed by store merchants, was launched in the United States last September and quickly began to handle more transactions than all other “contact less” payment methods combined, Apple said.

Cook said he believed it could take off even faster in China.

Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma said in October that the Chinese e-commerce giant was open to working with Apple on Apple Pay. Alibaba affiliate Alipay is China’s largest payments service. Analysts expect China to take over the Americas to become Apple’s biggest market. In the first three months of the year, for the first time, Apple sold more iPhones in China than in the United States.

The firm hopes to keep adding stores in China, where it aims to have 40 by next year, from 22 currently, Cook told Xinhua.

Cook’s China visit was to focus on Apple Pay’s entry as well as environmental initiatives to protect forests, he added.

Posted by : Gizmeon

How the Tor Project is bringing anonymity back to the web

Between government surveillance programs and websites that track users’ location and browsing habits, anonymity is hardly a given on today’s web. But there are a few solutions available for those looking to go incognito. Among the most ambitious initiatives in this vein is the Tor Project.

At the core of the Tor Project is a distributed network, in which several layers of connected routers act as separate “nodes,” transmitting information while guaranteeing users’ anonymity. In practice, this means users can connect through the network to prevent websites from pinpointing their location.

There are multiple ways to go online using the Tor network, but the most popular is the Tor Browser, a free program that allows users to surf the web through the distributed network. For total anonymity, users are advised to deactivate all of their extensions, including Flash and JavaScript, keeping in mind that this limits access to certain sites and services.

It is also possible to connect to the Tor network when using other browsers, such as Internet Explorer and Firefox, after making some fairly advanced tweaks to the network settings. Other programs that allow users to connect to the Tor network include the TorChat anonymous messaging service and a dedicated BitTorrent client.

Following Edward Snowden’s revelations on the NSA’s surveillance programs, a growing number of users worldwide have migrated to the Tor network, including everyday people concerned about online privacy. Nonetheless, the network still has a somewhat shady reputation, as it is also used by drug traffickers and arms dealers, among others seeking to avoid the law.

According to Karen Reilly, director of development at Tor, 2.5 million users access the web through the network daily.

Posted by : Gizmeon

OnePlus Power Bank with 10,000mAh battery arrives in India at Rs 1399

Keeping up with its promise to not make users in India wait too long, OnePlus has launched its 10,000mAh Power bank in India priced at Rs 1399. It is up for grabs on Amazon.in and will be available in Silk white and Sandstone black.

“To compliment your existing devices and to help you stave away from the ‘charge your device’ every so often blues, we offer you the “OnePlus Power Bank” where portability, affordability and capacity will be your key features for buying this wonderful accessory,” OnePlus writes in a blogpost.

The portable power bank comes equipped with dual USB ports (5V-2A) for charging two devices at a time. It also comes with a battery indicator LED along with safety features to prevent overcharging and overheating. The battery is also backed by one year manufacturer warranty. It claims to provide three full charges for the OnePlus One.

In March, OnePlus has started shipping the 10,000mAh Power Bank in the US. The company had also promised an India launch soon and released a statement saying, “As for our fans in Europe and India, you won’t have to wait long, either. We are ironing out the logistics process for a smoother shipping experience.”

Recently, the company also announced to have resolved issues it had with Micromax through mutual consent. OnePlus One users in India will continue to get Cyanogen updates.

Posted by : Gizmeon

BlackBerry Leap smartphone with 5-inch display launched in India at Rs 21,490

BlackBerry has launched the Leap smartphone in India at Rs 21,490. It will be available starting today via all BlackBerry exclusive stores.

The BlackBerry Leap is an affordable all-touch smartphone which sports a 5-inch edge-to-edge HD display with a 720 x 1280 pixel resolution along with a 294ppi pixel density. It is powered by a Snapdragon S4 Plus chip, which has a 1.5GHz dual-core Krait CPU. It also includes 2GB RAM.

BlackBerry Leap runs BlackBerry 10 OS (version 10.3) and supports BlackBerry Blend desktop software. In terms of memory, the device has an in-built storage of 16GB and can be further expanded up to 128GB via microSD card. On the camera front, the BlackBerry Leap has an 8MP auto-focus camera with LED flash along with a 2MP front-facing camera. The device can record 1080p videos at 30fps and also has a 5x digital zoom.

In terms of connectivity, it supports Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Hotspot, Bluetooth v4.0, A-GPS, 4G LTE and microUSB v2.0. The smartphone is fuelled by a non-removable Li Ion 2800mAh battery that claims to last for up to 25 hours, even after heavy use.

“The BlackBerry Leap was designed specifically for the young power professionals who see their smartphone device as a powerful and durable productivity tool that also safeguards sensitive communications, while on-the-go” said Sunil Lalvani, Managing Director, BlackBerry India. “With BlackBerry Leap complementing the latest BlackBerry portfolio, including BlackBerry Passport and BlackBerry Classic, we continue to provide products and services that meet the needs of our consumer and enterprise customers,”

Posted by : Gizmeon

Twitter to help users find a better job

Twitter can help more job-seekers than any other traditional platform if it incorporates a formal job board, say experts. The number of Twitter users has grown more rapidly than LinkedIn and Facebook in 2014, according to a study by the Pew Research Centre.

It showed that Twitter has more job openings than other social media sites and more job seekers than LinkedIn. However, only 15% of recruiters have actually found someone to hire through Twitter.

The people surveyed by Software Advice cited inconsistency of job postings and poor communication by companies with job-seekers as reasons for dissatisfaction.

Currently, the primary way for a Twitter user to find a job is by following specific companies she or he is interested in or by searching via hashtags related to jobs, companies or industries.

But a search for the hashtag #jobsearch will produce hundreds of tweets that are not related to actual jobs, such as articles on job hunting, random thoughts and junk tweets that use the hashtag for promotion.

In addition, as new tweets keep appearing every few seconds, the process of finding an appropriate job can be extremely time consuming and difficult.

What Twitter may do is to add this functionality, perhaps similar to what sites like Monster.com or CareerBuilder have done. They aggregate job postings, making it easy for job seekers to view jobs by different parameters such as functional area, industry, region etc.

Posted by : Gizmeon

Apple unseats Xiaomi in Chinese market to become number one

Apple has for the first time overtaken Xiaomi to become the largest vendor of smartphones in China, one of the world’s biggest markets.

Apple grabbed 14.7% of market share in the first quarter of 2015, surpassing Xiaomi, which had a 13.7% share, according to market researcher the International Data Corporation (IDC).

The two companies were followed by state-owned Huawei, Samsung and Lenovo. Top spot in China’s smartphone market, which is one of the world’s biggest but also one of its most fiercely competitive, has been occupied by four different companies in the past five quarters.

Samsung and Lenovo have also topped the list. Apple, Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung and Lenovo took up 57.8% of the market in the January-March period. While Apple, Xiaomi and Huawei saw shipments increase during this time, Samsung and Lenovo suffered substantial declines, according to the data.

A total of 98.8 million smartphones were shipped, 4.3% fewer than in the first quarter of 2014.

This was the first such drop in over six years, suggesting the market may be reaching saturation point after several quarters of over 20% growth.

The market entered a period of adjustment in the first quarter as companies’ inventories piled up due to intense competition, Wang Jiping, director of IDC’s China branch, was quoted by news portal Sina.com.

Posted by : Gizmeon