Technocete

Amazon’s best selling tiny connected speaker Echo Dot is back in stock—smaller, portable, as sleek as usual and at a cheaper price of $49.99. The Alexa-powered device offers as many as the features in the Amazon Echo, the bigger version. For those not in the know, the second generation of Echo Dot (cute name?) connects through either Bluetooth or a 3.5 mm stereo cable to your entertainment system. You can even voice-play for music from Amazon Music, Prime Music, Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn. Before the Dot was priced at $89. But now you can even go for multipacks so you can spread it around the house! ( order now) Amazon is also making the Dot available in discounted packs to encourage buying in bulk. If you buy the six-pack, you’ll effectively be paying for 5 and get 1 free. If you buy the 12-pack, meanwhile, you get 2 free. The 2nd generation Echo Dot The Dot is also now available in either black or white in order to better match the decor of your home, a

US tech giant Google has released a new version of its  Version 2.0 of its Photos app for iOS that now gives users the ability to edit Live Photos and turn them into shareable GIFs and video clips, a media report said. Live Photos is an interesting feature in Apple's iPhone 6s/6s Plus and SE models camera setting that brings your photos to life by creating a moving image.  A Live Photo captures 1.5 seconds of video and audio both before and after you press the shutter button to take a photo. Thus, in addition to a still JPEG image, you also get a three second Live Photo. "Google first introduced the ability to edit Live Photos earlier this year with the Motion Stills app," technology website Techcrunch.com reported on Friday.  The Motion Stills app improves your Live Photos by helping you to do things like crop out the blurry frames, freeze the background, create cinematic pans, stabilise the images.  In addition, the upgraded app also lets you share video clips on YouTu

As battery explosion fears led to a global recall of Samsung's premium Galaxy Note 7 , the south Korean giant has for the first time revealed the reasons that caused the "rare" overheating of the battery cell. On its UK website, Samsung wrote: "Based on our investigation, we learned that there was an issue with the battery cell. An overheating of the battery cell occurred when the anode-to-cathode came into contact, which is a very rare manufacturing process error". An Australian man was left with burns when his Samsung Note 7 "exploded" as he slept in his hotel room. Tham Hua, from Victoria state who was visiting Western Australia, said his Galaxy Note 7 exploded in his hotel room, bursting into flames. "My brand new Note 7 exploded this morning while I was still asleep, it was plugged in and charging," Hua posted on a technology forum. "Phone completely fried... (Samsung) told me this is the first case in Australia. (It) charred the

South Korean electronics conglomerate LG has launched its latest Android flagship smartphone V20 which is the first handset to be shipped with Google's latest Android 7.0 Nougat for superior experience.  Like its predecessor V10, the V20 also has a dual-camera system and a second display located at the top of the phone.  "More importantly, the V20 not only retains the headphone jack some phone makers are trying to phase out, but it also packs in some audiophile-grade features for music lovers who like lossless file formats and expensive headphones," The Verge reported. According to LG which launched the device in San Francisco on Tuesday, it comes with a 32-bit hi-fi Quad digital-to-analogue convertor (DAC) -- another first for smartphones. Quad DAC delivers crisp and clear sound that comes closest to a live performance when using compatible wired headphones. The V20 has Google's new "In Apps" search. The feature will let users search for contacts, photo

After taking the competition in India's telecom space to a new level when Reliance Jio offered voice calls for free forever and cut down data costs, Jio apps have now beaten mobile messaging service WhatsApp and social networking website Facebook on Google Play. Of the top 10 apps downloaded from the Google Play store in India, seven are from Jio family. WhatsApp is placed at third spot and Facebook is at 12th spot. MyJio app takes the top spot on the store while JioCinema is at second spot, revealed the top charts ranking on Google Play. JioTV takes the fourth place, JioNet fifth, JioJoin sixth, JioMusic seventh and JioMags bags the 10th place on Google Play. While MyJio has seen 10 million downloads, all other apps have crossed the one million downloads mark.  Eleven of the top 15 downloaded apps and 12 in top 20 belong to the Jio family.  Jio has also launched a new online shopping app AJIO that offers clothes, jewellery and accessories from more than 200 Indian and internation

As part of its global recall of Galaxy Note 7 after reports of battery explosion surfaced, Samsung Australia has formally recalled 51,060 such devices. "Samsung Electronics Australia advises all customers who use a Galaxy Note7 smartphone to power off their device, return it to its place of purchase and use an alternative device until a remedy can be provided," the company said in a statement. According to theaustralian.com.au, while no battery incidents was reported in Australia, Samsung said it was taking "the proactive and voluntary step" of recalling the 51,060 Galaxy Note7 smartphones in response to global concerns. The Rs 59,990 flagship device went on sale in 10 countries. Samsung is recalling and replacing up to 2.5 million Note 7 devices, with nearly $1 billion dollar cost to the company. "Customers who have purchased a Galaxy Note7 from Samsung are entitled to a new Galaxy Note7 and a courtesy device until replacement Galaxy Note7 stock arrives or a

Chinese internet and technology conglomerate LeEco is ready with the second flash sale of its 'Super3 X55' Super TV on September 6. The registration for the second flash sale which started on August 27 will end on September 6 at 11 a.m., the company said in a statement on Monday. LeEco sold over 1,500 units of Super3 X55 TVs in just three minutes during its first flash sale on August 26. The users can avail upto Rs 5,000 cashback on ICICI debit and credit cards or 12 months of no-interest EMI on their purchase through HDFC debit and credit cards on LeMall.com. Users opting Flipkart to purchase the Super TV can get cashback of Rs 5,000 along no-interest EMI for 12 months on Citibank debit and credit cards. The LeEco Super TVs Super3 X55 - 139.7 cm (55) is available for Rs 59,790 with a two-year product warranty as well as four years of warranty on the panel. The flash sale will start at 12:00 PM on September 6. (IANS)

Google will unveil its Pixel (Nexus) range of devices along with Daydream virtual reality (VR) and a new 4K compatible Chromecast to replace the currently available options on October 4, media reported on Tuesday. Earlier reports pointed out that HTC is making this year's Nexus phones and there are two of them -- Pixel and Pixel XL, codenamed Sailfish and Marlin, respectively.  "Google's Pixel XL has allegedly surfaced on a Geekbench benchmark listing recently, showcasing a couple of pieces of information that seem to confirm once more that the codename for the device is Marlin," technology website AndroidHeadlines.com reported on Tuesday.  Pixel XL is expected to have a number of very interesting features: an aluminum unibody design, a rear-facing fingerprint scanner and a 5.5-inch screen, according to earlier leaks. Pixel XL is rumoured to pack quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor clocked at 1.59GHz paired up with 4GB of RAM and will be running on NMR1, a ve

Cupertino-based giant Apple seems confident that its next generation iPhone 7 -- which is just a day away from launch -- is going to be a huge success as the company has reportedly increased orders of the components needed to manufacture the handset by 10 per cent. "It is also well known that non 's' year variants of iPhone create more excitement and have performed well than 's' variants, which the company also experiences year-on-year," The Next Web reported on Tuesday.  The timing of the move is interesting as Samsung had announced the global recall of its flagship premium device Galaxy Note 7 over battery faults and Apple is hoping to steal a number of its loyal customers. Although the exact reason for the increase in demand remains is still unclear.  "on the other hand, it is safe to say that it has something to do with the average sales of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus that Apple faced when it launched the devices this time last year," the

US technology firm Motorola Mobility (a Lenovo Brand) on Tuesday launched an affordable smartphone Moto G Play priced at Rs 8,999 in India. The smartphone features some sweet specs for the budget user: five-inch HD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor paired up with 2GB of RAM and runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow operating system. The device sports 8MP rear camera along with a 5MP front camera and houses 2,800mAh battery.  It also comes with 10W quick charger which gives five hours of power by plugging in for just 15 minutes.  Consumers can also avail the offers including Rs 15,000 Yatra e-cash from Yatra.com and Rs 300 cashback on Moto Pulse 2 headphone. The offers are available till September 13. Consumers can buy the smartphone at Amazon.in starting 10 p.m. onwards from September 6.  (IANS)

Joining the bandwagon to begin manufacturing in India, global internet technology conglomerate LeEco on Tuesday launched a state-of-the-art $7 billion smartphone manufacturing unit in Greater Noida. Spread over 200,000 square feet area and having a capacity to produce nearly 60,000 phones per month initially, the unit already employs over 200 professionals. LeEco is also investing $2 million for the automation process at the facility. "As the market size for electronics is expected to grow to $400 billion by 2020, it is imperative to promote indigenous manufacturing. LeEco is a name of global reputation and it is heartening to see it align with 'Make in India' after entering India just eight months earlier," said Information Technology (IT) and Electronics Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The Minister, who inaugurated the unit at a function in the capital, said the government hails LeEco's efforts to train local talent and build a centre of research and development

Aiming to address the issue of call drops, Reliance Communications on Tuesday introduced its 4G app-to-app calling for customers in Delhi NCR at an introductory price of Re one for 300 minutes of talk-time for 30 days. The offer is named 'Call Drops Se Chutkaara' (freedom from call drops). "We want Delhi to speak on data. Delhi NCR will get an India-first offer of 300 minutes of app-to-app talking. This will be valid for 30 days at just Re one -- 10 minutes a day for 30 days," said Gurdeep Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Consumer Business, Reliance Communications. The offer is valid for the month of September only, Gurdeep Singh said.  After the one-month trial period, customers can buy a data pack for Rs 39 which will give them 200 MB of data which "will be sufficient to make 300 minutes of talking". The new plan will enable Reliance 4G LTE customers to make calls worldwide through various popular data-based apps such as Whatsapp, FB Messenger, Skype, Goog

Chinese internet and technology conglomerate LeEco on Monday announced some unique offers on purchase of its LeEco superphones. This LeEco is pretty    LeEco is offering 10 per cent cashback on HDFC credit and debit cards on the purchase of Le 2 and Le Max2 from LeMall.com, the company's online marketplace.  The users can also avail cashback up to Rs 2,000 on all Citibank credit and debit cards from Flipkart. The offers on Le 2, Le Max2 and Le 1s Eco smartphones are available on LeMall and Flipkart for a limited two-day period from August 30 to September 1. The Rs 11,999 Le 2 and Rs 22,999 Le Max 2 come with a unique USB Type-C audio port featuring CDLA (Continual Digital Lossless Audio) technology that has made the traditional 3.5 mm audio jack redundant.

Popular smartphone brands Sony, Videocon and Sansui on Monday announced to partner with Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited to make the Jio Preview Offer available on their 4G smartphones. The Reliance Lyf  a Reliance Jio 4G handset Consumers buying these 4G smartphones can avail the Jio Preview Offer at all Reliance Digital stores including Digital Xpress and Digital Xpress Mini. As part of the offer, customers can enjoy unlimited access to Jio services for 90 days from the activation of Jio SIM. Jio's 4G-LTE services include unlimited HD voice calls and video calls, unlimited SMS, unlimited high-speed data and a host of Jio Premium apps such as JioPlay, JioOnDemand, JioBeats, JioMags, JioXpressNews, JioDrive, JioSecurity and JioMoney. In a move to counter Reliance Jio, telecom major Bharti AirtelBSE -0.68 % has slashed 4G and 3G mobile internet charges by up to 80 per cent to as low as Rs 51 per gigabyte (GB) under a special scheme. To avail this benefit, AirtelBSE -0.68 %

A smartphone speech recognition app can write text messages three times faster than humans, say researchers, adding that the discovery can spur the development of innovative speech recognition apps. Computer scientists from Stanford University, Chinese web services company Baidu and University of Washington devised an experiment that pitted Baidu's Deep Speech 2 cloud-based speech recognition software against 32 texters, ages 19 to 32, working the built-in keyboard on an Apple iPhone. "They grew up texting, so we're putting speech recognition up against people who are really good at this task," said James Landay, professor of computer science at Stanford. The subjects took turns typing or speaking about 100 phrases sourced from a standard library of everyday phrases such as "physics and chemistry are hard," "have a good weekend" and "go out for some pizza and beer".  The testing app recorded their times and accuracy rates.  Half the sub

Riding on the upcoming festive season boom in smartphone and mobile products and new product launches, mobile handset shipments are likely to surpass the 75-million-a-quarter mark for the first time in the third quarter of 2016, a report said on Wednesday. According to market research firm CyberMedia Research (CMR), a total of 65.9 million handsets were shipped during the second quarter, of which 56.5 per cent where feature phones.  Samsung, Micromax and Intex, respectively, lead the market in overall feature phones and smartphones segments. While Karbonn is at fourth spot, Reliance's LYF brand is now at fifth spot within smartphones.  "Now onwards, we are going to see a clear demarcation between new customer acquisition and the refresh among existing users of the phones," said Faisal Kawoosa, Lead Analyst, Telecoms, CMR, in a statement.  Transsion Holding's brand, itel, garnered close to two per cent market share in the feature phones category in its first quarter o

A new tool to recover information stored in Smartphone’s volatile memory could give investigators important clues to solve a criminal case, say researchers. With the new device, the researchers from Purdue University move the focus from a smart phone's hard drive, which holds information after the phone is shut down, to the device's RAM, which is volatile memory. "We argue this is the frontier in cyber crime investigation in the sense that the volatile memory has the freshest information from the execution of all the apps," said lead researcher Dongyan Xu. "Investigators are able to obtain more timely forensic information toward solving a crime or an attack," Xu noted. Although the contents of volatile memory are gone as soon as the phone is shut down, it can reveal surprising amounts of forensic data if the device is up and running. The team's early research resulted in work that could recover the last screen displayed by an Android applica

Taiwan-based technology major ASUS will unveil Zenfone 3 smartphone with a first-ever 360-degree live streaming of the event in the country on August 17. "The live streaming will also provide the consumers a chance to be part of the actual live event with 360-degree visual access, guaranteeing a premium experience to every single person,” said Marcel Campos, Marketing Director, Mobile Division, India, in a statement. Users may visit Asus on August 17 at 4 pm to be a part of the immersive experience. Asus Zenfone 3 was first announced at the Computex Conference in Taipei earlier this year.

Japan-based Kyocera has announced a new smartphone that packs "Super Wide View" 1080p action camera which has its own image processor that gives it slow-motion, sports, action and underwater mode. For security, the 5-inch DuraForce Pro smartphone packs a lot of smart features: fingerprint sensor, built-in encryption, Android for work support and is expected to be priced around $418, engadget.com reported on Thursday. The 135-degree field of view is similar to dedicated action cams and Kyocera will eventually release a case that supports GoPro-style mounts. The smartphone is powered by Snapdragon 617 octa-core CPU, 2GB RAM, 32GB expandable storage and runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system. Looks like a transformer huh? Kyocera's DuraForce Pro   Apart from an action camera, the device sports 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera, houses 3,240mAh QuickCharge 2.0 battery and includes NFC, Bluetooth 4.2 and a barometer. The device is a total ba

Ever worried about using smartphones and tablets at night affecting your eyes or sleep patterns? Do you love to read e-books on smartphones or tablets late at night but are worried about the negative results of the blue light exposure? Take heart, as according to a study, ample exposure to daytime light may help combat sleep disturbances associated with the evening-time use of electronic devices. The findings showed that daytime bright light exposure, by means of outdoor activities or light interventions in offices, did not affect sleep in young healthy students who used a self-luminous tablet for two hours in the evening time. "Our most important finding was that the issue of whether screen light in the evening could interfere with your sleep is more complex than previously highlighted and that there are certain important factors (such as daytime exposure to light) that affect this," Frida Rangtell, doctoral student at Uppsala University in Sweden, was quoted as saying to

Technology giant Apple is planning to launch two new models of its Watch later this year, with a bigger version called "Apple Watch 2" packing a set of hot new features: faster TSMC-built processor, GPS, barometer, thinner display and a higher capacity battery. The second Apple Watch model sounds like a smaller upgrade and will stay the same with some updated components and will not get the Apple Watch 2's new features, The Verge reported on Monday. Another model with a similar form factor is expected to come next year alongside LTE support. Apple is likely to hold an event next month to announce iPhone7 and new Watch models, the report added. Apple is said to be planning two new models of the Watch for 2016. The bigger upgrade, dubbed "Apple Watch 2" for now, will reportedly have "the same general design" as the current Watch, but include new internal components such as a GPS radio, a barometer, a thinner display, and a new, faster 16nm proce

The Cinemax 3 smartphone  Domestic mobile manufacturer Zen Mobile on Monday launched a new Cinemax 3 smartphone priced at Rs 5,499 that comes pre-loaded with games, live TV streaming app NexGenTV, music streaming service Saavn and Vuliv video player. "Zen Cinemax 3 is loaded with various smart features at an affordable price that provides seamless experience," said Sanjay Kalirona, CEO of Zen Mobile, in a statement. The device with 5.5-inch FWVGA IPS display is powered by 1.3GHz quad-core processor coupled with 2GB of RAM and runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system. The smartphone sports 5MP auto-focus rear camera and 3.2MP front camera, has 16GB internal memory that can be expanded up to 32GB and houses 2,900mAh battery. The smartphone also has SOS feature that allows users to send location details to five pre-defined numbers of user's choice in case of an emergency.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Gionee has launched its latest device F103 Pro in India for customers who seek stylish phones with powerful performance. Gionee F103 The device has 5-inch water-drop glass display and 4G VoLTE support.   The device has 3GB RAM and 16GB on board memory (expandable up to 128GB) with a 2,400 mAh battery. Gionee F103 Pro comes with 13MP rear camera and a 5MP selfie camera with advanced features like face beauty, text recognition, an expanded network choice, Desktop editor, Gionee-abroad services, Trash feature and Time Lapse. The device is available in three colours -- white, gold and grey. Some of Gionee F103 Pro's specs  The F103 is available for Rs 11,999 on Flipkart. The smartphone comes in a metal body and offers a rich user-experience with amigo 3.2 user interface that runs on Android 6.0. * 1.3 GHz quad-core processor * 3GB RAM, 16GB Internal memory, expandable memory up to 128GB with microSD * Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with Ami

The third flash sale for Le 2 smartphone on Flipkart and LeMall.com, LeEco's own marketplace e-commerce platform, is on July 12, the global Internet and technology conglomerate LeEco said on Monday. “We are extremely overjoyed with the response that we have got from the Le 2 and Le Max2 devices. We would continue to delight the Indian users with our superphones and offers in the future too,” said Atul Jain, Chief Operating Officer, Smart Electronics Business, LeEco India, in a statement. Le 2 comes with 16MP rear camera and 8MP front camera. It is also equipped with PDAF (phase detection auto focus) feature that enables fast focusing on the image. The screen's blue light filter also helps reduce eye fatigue. The phone also offers a 5.5-inch Full HD display and weighs 153 gram. The Rs 11,999 Le 2 and Rs 22,999 Le Max 2 come with a unique USB Type-C audio port featuring CDLA (Continual Digital Lossless Audio) standard that has made the traditional 3.5 mm audio jack redundant

Yahoo Mail on Thursday introduced several new updates for iOS and Android operating platforms that are focused on allowing users to add personal touch to their inbox. Yahoo now allows iOS users to take back an email right after it’s been sent. After you press send, an option to “undo” will appear at the bottom of your inbox feed for three seconds. Just click that and you’ll stop the email from sending. Using "Xobni" technology, Yahoo will now give iOS users options to search for a person in mail, the company said in a statement. In addition to their most recent emails, you’ll also be able to see their contact card with information including picture, phone number and email history. For Android users, Yahoo has introduced the Stationery feature that allows you to add an extra touch to your emails, making that birthday wish to your best friend or thank you letter to Grandma that much more special. A few other updates include document preview, home screen

Leading smartphone manufacturer Samsung on Friday launched two new Galaxy series phones with two new specs Turbo Speed Technology (TST) and Smart Glow technologies. Newly-launched Galaxy J2 2016 is the refreshed version of Galaxy J2 launched in 2015, an addition to Samsung's existing 4G enabled smartphone portfolio. The re engineered Galaxy J2 2016 is equipped with TST, a new technology which delivers superior performance by loading native apps 40 per cent faster. Available in Gold, Black, and White color options, the Galaxy J2 (2016) measures 142.4 x 71.1 x 8.0mm. The device runs on Android Marshmallow. The Samsung Galaxy J2 The handset also features Turbo Speed Technology (TST) that is aimed at performance enhancement, which is achieved by "using the least amount of resources to complete a particular task in the fastest time." Samsung claims that with this tech, apps load up to 40% faster when compared to devices with double the RAM. "With