News

10 Exclusive Features of iOS 8

iOS 8 has been a giant release ever for developers as well as for users. The new version of Apple’s mobile operating system, incorporates a number of interesting features that are going to mesmerize the user.

Here are some of the exclusive features of iOS 8 to bring a tweak in the market:

• Interactive notification

Interactive notification, is one of the best ingredients in iOS 8. Now you can respond to any incoming messages without troubling the app you were working upon.

• Examine Your Battery Life

Now, you are eased to find which app is consuming more battery life, the credit goes to handy tool that gives a percentage rundown of what’s Zapping it most.

• Smartest Key ever

iOS 8 makes typing easier by proposing contextually suitable words to complete your sentences. It even identifies who you are typing and whether you’re in message or mail.

• Family Sharing

Up to six people in your family can clearly share each other’s purchases from the App Store and iTunes. Moreover, you can well maintain each other’s photo, locations, calendars and much more.

• iCloud Driver

The good news: Now you can work on any file, anywhere at any moment. This incorporates PDFs, images, presentations and much more directly from iCloud from any devices.

• Integrated Health information

Now your heart rate monitor, activity tracker and other health and fitness application can speak to each other. Which means, now they will be able to work even harder for you.

• Share Your Location

If you are planning for outing with your friends, then iOS 8 allow you to share your exact location with a group of friends. So, stay connected with your friend till you reach them.

• Multitasking Mail

Finally, emails are now windows, so you don't need to close one to open an alternate. Just you need to swipe downward to minimize the email and open up a few at once.

• Phone calls over WiFi

With iOS 8, now you can get option for WiFi calling, enabling you to place phone calls over WiFi when connected to a WiFi network, which is handy when your imported signal is low.

• Credit card scanning

Now with iOS 8’s web browser (Safari), you can use the camera to scan in credit card numbers, while making online shopping, rather than manually typing in credit card number.

Let’s see how iOS 8 is going to hit the market with its exclusive features!!

Android 4.4 KitKat now runs 21% of all Android Devices

According to a recent blog post on the Android Developers’ official webpage, the latest Android 4.4 KitKat OS now runs 20.9% of all Android devices around the globe. This suggests that this latest OS version has earned huge popularity and success in very less time. However, the different versions of the Android Jelly Bean OS still leads the Android share by running around 50% of all Android devices.

Still, there are around 14.3% of all Android devices, which run on the obsolete 2.2 Froyo and 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. Whereas, the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich had a decreased share of 10.6% of all Android devices.

These data were collected during a 7-day period, which ended on 12^th August 2014. Also, the data were collected from the new Google Play Store App, which is supported only on Android 2.2 and above. Hence, the devices which are running on the older versions, were not included.

In an earlier report released in July 2014, the Android 4.4 Kitkat had a share of 17.8%, while all the versions of Android Jelly Bean had a combined share of 56.5% in march 2014.

With huge popularity and demand, it is expected that the Android 4.4 KitKat version would soon taste a huge portion of the Android cake.

New explode: Android grabs 85% of smartphone Market

According to recent research from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipment reached 295 million units in the second  quarter of 2014.

Smartphones powered by the Android operating system gained a new record of 85 percent of the world wide market, mainly at the cost of  Apple iOS, Blackberry and Microsoft Windows phone. According to the  survey, it’s a great threat to marginalize opponent’s platform.

According to strategic survey, Apple’s iPhone succeeded to increase sales to 35 million in the quarter of 2014, whereas Apple’s global market share dropped to 11.9 percent from 13.4 percent a year back.

Words from the Director at Strategy analytics convey the fact that it is going to be a hard time for the rival OS vendors.

In this regards, Woody, Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “ Android’s domination of global smartphone reached a new threshold in Q2 2014, with a remarkable 85 % of all smartphones now running Google’s OS”.

Neil Mawtson, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics share his view, and added “ Android is on great edge of turning smartphone platforms into a one-horse race. Its  cost effective services and user-friendly software remain wildly attractive to operators, hardware makers and consumers globally. The only important  threat to Android are the large-screen iPhones predicted to come from Apple later this year and the ultra-low cost Firefox phones.

Linda Sui an analyst, said “Global smartphone growth in quarter 2014 is at lowest level for five years, and even it is observed that there is wide variation by region.  For instance, Asia and Africa are booming, whereas Europe and North America are maturing”.

The survey conveys that Google’s supremacy of the smartphone market has reached a new threshold, with its Android operating system for a new record of 85 % share of the  global software shipment.

Remarkable survey reports on Global smartphone OS shipment and market share in quarter 2014

Google I/O 2014 - Google Launches “Android One” for sub $100 Smartphones

The Search Engine giant Google has launched an advanced smartphone platform, “Android One” for sub $100 smartphones, at the ongoing I/O 2014 Conference in San Francisco. Google had also launched a new smartwatch and other wearable Android products at the biggest technology event of the year.

The new “Android One” smartphone platform is targeted towards the sub $100 low-budget smartphones, which is in great demand, especially in South Asian countries like India and Indonesia. This new advanced platform will help the smartphone manufacturers build and launch new smartphones at low price tags.

Sundar Pichal, Google’s SVP for Chrome, Android & Applications had many new announcements to make at the ongoing conference, on Wednesday. The launch of “Android One” came as an exciting news for the emerging South Asian smartphone market. "We are going to be launching it around the world, but will launch in India first in the fall of this year.” He stated.

The new smartphone platform will also allow updates at regular intervals by the developers and its partners. The Android One Smartphones would also be getting a list of recommended Applications from the “Play Auto-installs”, which was found on Nexus devices. With this new platform, Google is targeting those probable customers, who still doesn’t own a smartphone.

Currently, Google has collaborated with three Indian Smartphone brands including, Micromax, Karbonn and Spice, to launch new smartphones in the sub $100 price bracket in India.

During the launch event, Sundar Pichai showcased a Micromax Android One Smartphone, which featured dual-SIM connectivity, FM Radio, MicroSD Card Slot and a 4.5-inch touchscreen display. This Smartphone cost less than $100, which is something great for emerging markets. Pichal also told that he had been using this Micromax Smartphone from the last few days, and he was impressed with its performance and capabilities.

It is well known that Google’s Android Operating System is the most popular and best selling smartphone platform, all around the Globe. The “Android One” is the Google’s answer to other smartphone software platforms like Mozilla Firefox and Micosoft’s Windows Phone, who is soon going to launch cheap smartphones in the South Asian markets.

Earlier, Mozilla announced its collaboration with the Indian brands like Spice & Intex to launch smartphones for less than $35. And Nokia, which is now owned by Microsoft, also introduced Android running Smartphone at $135. However, the “Google Play” App Store still rules over all other App Stors, after Apple’s iOS.

Samsung Galaxy S4: The initial review in comparison with S III and iPhone 5

With the release of Samsung Galaxy S4, the Korean conglomerate has posed another threat to the empire of the most luxurious brand Apple Inc. Apple has launched iPhone 5 in the recent past and now the launch of Galaxy S4 by Samsung, has left the Smartphone world busy discussing what the future has in store for Apple iPhone 5 and other Smartphone brands like HTC One, LG Nexus 4, BlackBerry Z10 and also the Galaxy S III.

The initial review of Samsung Galaxy S4 has reveled the following few astonishing features of this most talked about device:

• It's the first Smartphone to boast an 8-core chip
• The Galaxy S4 possesses a 5-inch HD display
• It has a 13 MP camera
• The camera software has several modes to choose from
• Pictures could be taken using the front and rear cameras simultaneously
• It has an ‘eraser’ feature that lets you remove the photo of an unwanted moving person in the background
• It can act as a universal remote for any TV with its infrared blaster

Samsung Galaxy S4 versus Samsung Galaxy S III

• The Galaxy S4 has a 5-inch HD display which is slightly larger than the screen of Galaxy S III
• The home screen of S4 is identical to S III
• S4 uses the same camera interface as Samsung's Android-powered Galaxy Camera
• The Galaxy S4 is marginally smaller than the Galaxy S III despite its larger screen
• The S4 is also thinner and lighter than S III
• The Galaxy S4 outdoes S III with the Exynos 5 Octa processor
• RAM has also been doubled from 1GB in S III to 2GB in S4
• Galaxy S4's battery is 2600mAh as compared to the Galaxy S3's at 2100mAh

Samsung Galaxy S4 versus iPhone 5

• iPhone 5 has dual-core A6 processor clocked at 1.2GHz whereas Samsung has 1.9GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600
• The S4 has twice the RAM as iPhone 5
• iPhone 5 showcases LED-backlit IPS LCD whereas Samsung has Super AMOLED displays
• The iPhone 5 has 1136 x 640 resolution Retina display that offers 326 ppi but, S4’s latest display is 1920×1080 (that’s 1080p) at 441 ppi
• The iPhone 5 has 1440mAh battery whereas S4 comes loaded with 2600mAh battery

So, there is a great buzz about the features and improvements of the S4 and its combat with other Smartphones in the mobile industry. However, as the popular idiom goes – every cloud has a silver lining, this hustle of Smartphone brands is all set to open new doors of opportunities in front of the mobile application development companies. 

BlackBerry App World passes 3bn downloads

BlackBerry App World, the official app download site for Blackberry is very young at a tender age of three only. Still, passed the 2m download milestone at the start of the year. Precisely, it took Blackberry App Store 786 days to reach the one billion mark, 210 days to reach two billion, and only 176 days to reach the milestone of three billion. Smart progress, undoubtedly! The store is currently supporting 2.5 million downloads a day, and has over 28,000 vendors offering more than 90,000 applications. When compared, we see that iOS has passed 30bn downloads and Android is close to. Meanwhile Windows Marketplace has not disclosed app totals, but is known to offer almost 100,000 products. BlackBerry blogged: "While we’re very proud of the work that has gone into BlackBerry App World, we’re especially appreciative of the tens of thousands of developers that have and continue to create apps for the BlackBerry platform."

Making calls from mobile phones is almost history as Smartphones are hardly used for making calls

While Smartphones are replacing more of our gadgets, such as alarm clocks and digital cameras, actually using one to make a phone call is not that common, according to mobile network O2. The average Smartphone owner spends more than two hours each day using the device. During that time, Smartphone owners spend an average of 25 minutes using their phone to browse the web, 17 minutes on social networking, 13 minutes playing games and 16 minutes listening to music. Making phone calls with the Smartphone was only the fifth most popular use for the gadget, only slightly more time than they spend writing and checking email (11 minutes) and text messaging (10 minutes). While the survey found that people spend just three minutes a day taking photographs, photography was the most popular thing to use a Smartphone for, with 74 per cent saying that they had taken photos with their handset. "Smartphones are now being used like a digital ‘Swiss Army Knife’, replacing possessions like watches, cameras, books and even laptops," said David Johnson, general manager of devices for O2 in the UK. "While we’re seeing no let-up in the number of calls customers make or the amount of time they spend speaking on their phones, their phone now plays a far greater role in all aspects of their lives."

Google defeated Oracle in the infringement law suit

The much talked about and heard about law suit of Google and Oracle over use of Java Code in Android, lastly came to halt with California US District Court Judge William Alsup’s ruling that "When there is only one way to express an idea or function, then everyone is free to do so and no one can monopolize that expression,". "So long as the specific code used to implement a method is different, anyone is free under the Copyright Act to write his or her own code to carry out exactly the same function." Judge Alsup also said his ruling does not mean nobody has to pay Oracle to use Java APIs, but that the way Google did was lawful. “It holds on the specific facts of this case, the particular elements replicated by Google were free for all to use,” he said. Oracle, which had hoped the court would impose a levy on every Android Smartphone sold said it would appeal against the latest blow to its claims. “This ruling if permitted to stand, would undermine the protection for innovation and invention in the United States" said spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger. “Oracle is committed to the protection of Java as both a valuable development platform and a valuable intellectual property asset. It will vigorously pursue an appeal of this decision in order to maintain that protection”. “The court's decision upholds the principle that open and interoperable computer languages form an essential basis for software development,” a Google spokesman said. “Its a good day for collaboration and innovation.”