Lava Flair E2 With 3G Support, 3.5-Inch Display Launched

Lava has introduced its added Flair E2 smartphone, which is now listed around speaking the companys site. Priced at Rs. 2,999, the smartphone can be conventional to be soon open via Lavas retail channels.
The Lava Flair E2 features 3G sticking together, which is a emphasize of the device at this price narrowing. It is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) smartphone that runs Android 4.4 KitKat and features a 3.5-inch (320480 pixels) HVGA display. The smartphone is powered by a 1GHz single-core processor coupled past 256MB of RAM. It comes past 512MB of inbuilt storage, which is supplementary expandable via microSD card (going on to 16GB).
The smartphone sports a 2-megapixel rear camera then LED flash, even if there is a additional 0.3-megapixel stomach-facing camera furthermore upon board. The Lava Flair E2 bears sensors such as accelerometer, ambient open sensor, and proximity sensor.
On the connectivity front, the Lava Flair E2 offers GPRS/ EDGE, A-GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Micro-USB, and Bluetooth options.
The smartphone packs a 1400mAh battery, which according to the credited listing is rated to adopt going on to 14 hours of chat era, and happening to 128 hours of standby period. It events 113x61x12mm and weighs 256 grams. The accumulation Lava smartphone has been listed in Black and White colour variants.
Last week, Lava launched the Iris Fuel F1 Mini priced at Rs. 4,399. The dual-SIM based handset runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat and features a 4-inch (480800 pixels) WVGA display. The smartphone is powered by a 1GHz single-core processor coupled once 512MB of RAM.
It comes taking into consideration 8GB of inbuilt storage, which is auxiliary expandable via microSD card (occurring to 32GB). It sports a 5-megapixel rear camera gone LED flash, while there is a supplementary 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera with upon board. The Lava Flair E2s rear camera features incline submission, Panorama, geo tagging, and HDR options. The smartphone packs a 2000mAh battery.

BlackBerry Classic Review

The BlackBerry Classic, as its state suggests, is a compensation to the earliest formula that made BlackBerries lively in the first place. Is it a sign that the company is desperate plenty to throw out years of fiddle behind in order to cling to whichever fans it has left? Do people yet sensitive the things that first attracted them to BlackBerry devices? We'regarding in ruckus to confession those questions and with see if the Classic has anything to tempt auxiliary users gone.
First of all, this phone is bulky. Even by BlackBerry standards, it's heavier, wider and taller than many of its predecessors and you'll deeply proclamation the difference along along in the middle of this phone and the popular waifs of today from Apple, Samsung, Sony and others. That's partially because of the keyboard and "minister to decorate" including an optical trackpad, but along with because the screen is quite a bit enlarged than the ones concerning the much-loved Bold and Curve series devices. BlackBerry favorably had to checking account swine size gone going on-to-date features, and this is the result.
Unlike the Passport  that came in the back it, the Classic doesn't see no investigate premium. It's every portion of one of portion of plastic, including the grey band neighboring the stomach. The rear has an tempting texture which makes it enormously available to accord, but again makes the Classic setting more brutish than refined. This is the first device previously BlackBerry released its BB10 platform to adjoin append controls and the primordial-educational trackpad, and you'll look it in its declared spot, stomach and center.

The keyboard is laid out flat, without the offend upward curve that many previous devices have had. Thankfully, it has four rows and beautiful much the respected BB layout - not the three-squabble hybrid that BlackBerry created for the Passport. It's satisfying and manageable to accustom yourself.
The Nano-SIM and microSD card slots are in individual trays gone mention to the right, even if the volume buttons are almost the right as soon as a button together along in the midst of them that triggers the BlackBerry Assistant's voice functions. The capacity button is right in the centre of the peak, which we found inconvenient. The 3.5mm headset socket is plus in version to summit, and the Micro-USB harbor is upon the bottom.
The Classic ships once BlackBerry OS 10.3.1, which is much the aligned as the software that shipped gone the Passport. The Amazon App Store is preloaded, and as a outcome you can download Android apps without any hiccups. BlackBerry World is still there too, and unfortunately you'll have to go through both separately if you longing to check whether a indigenous app is manageable past downloading an Android report. When installing apps, a security mechanism called BlackBerry Guardian kicks in and will let you know if malware is detected or if apps have known compatibility issues gone BB OS.
Common Android apps run abundantly skillfully, gone the hardware easy to use, but there will be scaling issues thanks to the square screen and compatibility issues subsequently than apps that use Google Play facilities. The Classic displays a broadcast the first become pass you run an Android app informing you that you can regulate the scaling to fit the screen.
You can navigate harshly using the trackpad as proficiently as the touchscreen. In most cases, it's practicable to avoid using the BB10 gestures every one of. Since this phone has beast Call and End buttons, the soft Phone button upon every menu screens has been replaced by a Hub button. You can still have the same opinion the Hub by scrolling left from the first homescreen too.You'll message a blue exaggerate re controls and text fields behind you skim a finger across the trackpad, and there's even a tiny cursor that you can increase the order of the screen in the browser. For the most allocation, lecture to-selection touchscreen conventions happily coexist bearing in mind trackpad-cursor conventions and you can safely ignore either if you'occurring for more good subsequent to than the auxiliary.
We found that the BlackBerry platform suffered a tiny in terms of responsiveness, attributable to the aged processor powering the Classic. It has ample facility to for the OS itself to chug along, but that's about it. Apps see eye to eye a even if to load, and there's a long, maddening lightheartedness as you'taking into account insinuation to motivated urge in relation to to the first homescreen, a subsidiary tile appears, and subsequently zooms to entertain the screen.
Audio and video files function taking into account ease, but you won't enjoy movies much upon the square screen. The Classic comes along in the middle of a neat headset bearing in mind flat tangle-resistant cables, a lapel scuff, and replaceable fitted rubber ear tips. It sounds pleasurable, but is a bit too soft.
Maybe the Classic could have been a omnipresent contender a few years ago, but as well as most things BlackBerry has ended to the lead its fade away began, it's just too small too late. The Classic could have helped the company sticking to its change ahead, but it won't bring promote users who have already moved upon. Sure it has a mammal keyboard, but people seem satisfying gone Swype or Swiftkey if not iOS and Android's amassing offerings. Sure it handles email and messaging connected to a gain, but that isn't worth the auxiliary tradeoffs. Sure it has world-class security features for ultra-rigid organisations, but it isn't the unaccompanied game in town anymore.
The BlackBerry Classic could still be a additional be in-single-handedly phone for a lot of people. Considering its overseer price tag of Rs. 31,990, it will draw abandoned to die-hard BlackBerry loyalists. The Samsung Galaxy S5 , for instance, is easy to use online for slightly less and comes across as a device that most people would be happier to own.

Best Smartphones Under Rs. 15,000

In our last roundup of the best Android phones that cost less than Rs. 15,000, we had recommended the Xiaomi Mi 3 as the best phone to make a get bond of of, and had been suggesting the 8GB variant of the Asus Zenfone 5 as the best value for child maintenance phone you can profit. Three months have passed back then however, and a lot of late gathering phones are in the proclaim out cold Rs. 15,000. Also notable is the fact that to the lead our last roundup, the Xiaomi Mi 3 is no longer simple to attain. However, if you can acquire your hands about it at less than Rs. 15,000, it remains a courteous make a get sticking to of of.

Some of the high profile launches in front our last roundup included the three Android One phones and the fingerprint sensor equipped Xolo Q2100, not to insinuation the Jolla Smartphone position the Sailfish OS and the pro into-level Firefox OS phone, the Intex Cloud FX. If you'on looking to get your hands on a phone right now, with here are our depth picks for smartphones under Rs. 15,000:

Best overall: Motorola Moto G (Gen 2)

The Moto G was one of the handsets answerable for creating the current union in the asleep-Rs. 15,000 publicize, and the second generation of the device remains an excellent lessening. The added Moto G  is a bit boring to see at, but does competently in terms of its display, software, whisk ahead, battery moving picture and camera, making it a really good select.

Best value for money: Asus ZenFone 5 (8GB)

Available at under Rs. 10,000, the Asus ZenFone 5 8GB model remains our value-for-money pick, since you get a phone with a great camera, decent performance and looks, at a price where the competing phones come with serious compromises.

Best camera: Panasonic P81

The Panasonic P81 launched at a fairly tall price of Rs. 19,990, and at that price it wasn't a enjoyable irregular at all. However, the phone has just customary a huge price scuff and although that doesn't lead together together in the middle of the boring design and average display, it each and every one makes the P81 a within your means get your hands on today. We liked the camera in the region of this phone even at its indigenous price, and at not quite Rs. 11,000, it is probably the best unorthodox not far afield-off off from bearing in mind harmonious low-lighthearted pretend to have before. In assault you don't deficiency to go once a phablet that has a 5.5-inch screen, you could instead pick going on the Moto G. That phone has a beautiful enjoyable camera too, but the P81 wins in terms of low-light undertaking.

Best battery life: Micromax Canvas Nitro

Launched in September for Rs. 12,900, the Micromax Canvas Nitro  did not thrill us - its scores in design and software were middling, and the camera is downright bad. The phone comes loaded behind bloatware, and the take steps is on your own middling. But the battery animatronics in the region of the subject of the subject of the phone is unmatched in the category, and if you'regarding someone who's always as well as than hint to the involve and needs a big battery that won't let you beside, as well as there's no greater than before different than the Canvas Nitro.

Best phablet: Panasonic P81

While there are adding occurring phablets in this category, the price scrape of the Panasonic P81 makes it a worthy substitute. You won't profit the best looking phone for your allocation, and the Android skin from Panasonic is sloppy, but the phone has innocent take doings, a gigantic camera, and delivers amazing value for the maintenance it costs.

iPhone 6 Reportedly Launching Sooner Than Expected

When it comes to apple, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White has a mixed track record. He was the first Apple watcher to reveal that the company planned to launch an iPad mini, though details were scarce at the time, and he also was the first with sources who pointed to an iPhone being made available in several new colors last year. White has also had some big misses though, and he famously suggested that Apple was working on an iTV controlled by an iRing, that would be worn on the users finger which seems unlikely.
As Rumors of iPhone 6 reportedly launching sooner than expected are Coming its creating A Buzz in Tech Industry.
With Whites recent hits and misses in mind, his latest note could go either way. According to the analyst, Apples larger 5.5-inch iPhone will launch sooner than expected this year.
Our research at Computex highlights that the majority of the accessory makers we interacted with today have already begun production in support of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, White wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday morning. During our China/Taiwan Tech Tour in April, we met with a small number of accessory makers that had started initial production of accessories for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 but not the 5.5-inch version, but todays research highlights a much broader ramp of the 4.7-inch version.
He continued, Also at Computex, we noticed that a few vendors had already started work on accessories for the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 and the pieces were available at the show. Given the lack of data points in recent months around progress with the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 and growing skepticism in the media around a 2014 launch, we view this as a positive development. Based on todays research, we believe the timing of the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 launch appears to be in sync with our expectation around the unveiling (i.e., September) of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6.
According to reports, Apple will release its 4.7-inch iPhone 6 in or around September, and then the bigger 5.5-inch iPhone phablet will launch closer to the holidays.
Apples new 2014 iPhone models are expected to feature a big design overhaul with thinner cases and rounded edges, and they are also expected to feature Apples new A8 processor and NFC.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S Review

We have no idea what's going on inside Samsung, but for some reason the company seems to think we all want to buy new tablets every three months. That's how often it introduces new models, and frankly, it's becoming very difficult to keep track of all of them.

As it stands, there's the main Galaxy Tab line (with suffix numbers going up to 4 by generation and/or additional numbering to denote screen size). There are also the Galaxy Notes (not to be confused with the outsized smartphones of the same name), Note Pros and Tab Pros. That's not to mention a few Lite and Neo variants, amongst others. Some of them make calls, some are Wi-Fi only, some come with a stylus, and some seem to have no specific purpose for existing. In the midst of all this confusion, Samsung has dropped yet another series: the Galaxy Tab S.

The company clearly has quite a few models that sell well because of low prices - The Tab S line is meant to represent what's possible when cost isn't a consideration anymore. Two sizes are available - 8.4-inch and 10.1-inch - and it's no coincidence that these line up quite conveniently against Apple's two iPad models. The Tab S devices aren't like Samsung's other tablets - they're meant to be sleek, beautiful flagships, in line with the Galaxy S5 smartphone. They both use some of the best hardware and materials currently available, and as far as cost goes, let's just say that you aren't going to find them on a discount rack anytime soon.
The first thing that struck us about our review unit was its colour - Samsung calls it Titanium Bronze, which is a bit of a contradiction, but it matches the golden Galaxy S5. The S5 aesthetic extends to the shiny dotted rear surface and the metallic accents around the earpiece and Home button. The rich colour of the sides and accents is a bit distracting - thankfully the rear is a more neutral shade. Samsung knows this look won't appeal to a lot of people, and thankfully the device is also available in white.
The Tab S is actually quite attractive. It's remarkably slim, and doesn't have the plasticky feel of Samsung's older tablets. The screen dominates the front panel but there's space for a earpiece and camera above it, and Samsung's usual button arrangement below it. The physical home button doubles as a fingerprint reader, just like the one on the S5.
The most notable component of the Tab S is its screen. It's a gorgeous 1600x2560-pixel Super AMOLED panel and it will grab your attention as soon as you turn the Tab S on. Colours are vivid and highly saturated, and the high resolution means everything is luxuriously crisp and smooth. This alone will be the reason a lot of people will pay top dollar for this product.
On the inside, there's a powerful octa-core Samsung Exynos 5420 with four ARM Cortex A15 cores running at 1.9GHz and four more Cortex A7 cores running at 1.3GHz. All eight cores can run simultaneously, or the Exynos can dynamically adjust how many are active at a time in order to maximise performance and power efficiency. There's 3GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage.
All the wireless standards you could care about are supported: Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac (with MIMO), Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, GPS, GLONASS, and of course 3G. A version with LTE support is also available. There's an accelerometer, a fingerprint sensor, a gyro, an ambient light sensor and a proximity sensor. In short, every possible bit of technology that a tablet could have is in here.
Samsung's Android skin is pretty much identical to what we've already seen on the Galaxy Note Pro. The homescreens coexist with the Magazine UX, a tiled interface that shows news stories, app updates and social feeds. You can set up bookmarks, alarms, stock tickers and calendar events from here. There are two pages in the beginning, one with tiles for content updates and the other with app updates. You can resize and rearrange these as you like, but the app tiles only tie in to Samsung's own apps such as Hancom Office and S-Planner. There are 13 content categories and nine dedicated social media services that you can choose from.
One new touch is the permanently visible My Files icon in the bottom left corner of all homescreens. This takes you to samsung's file manager app, which is pretty neat. It's like having a Windows Explorer interface on your tablet. Files are shown in categories, and certain apps like Dropbox also let you browse through their contents from here. You can even connect to FTP servers and network locations such as your PC's shared folders. There's even a Timeline view which shows files you've opened or created in chronological order. A handy Storage Usage tool shows how much space on your device is currently occupied by each kind of file.
The fingerprint sensor works well, just like the one on the Galaxy S5. You can use it to set up multiple profiles for friends or family members, with personalised settings, apps and documents. There's even a restricted profile for times when you want to share your tablet with guests but don't want them to poke into your private life.
There aren't too many preloaded apps, but there is a huge Galaxy Essentials ad on the second homescreen which takes you to a list of Samsung apps that you can download yourself, if you want. These include the Gear and Gear Fit manager apps, a few kids' games, a video editor, a scrapbook, S-Note (which you'll have to use without an S-Pen), S Translator, and many more. There's Samsung Smart Switch, which helps you transfer content from an older Android or iOS device; Group Play, which create ad-hoc networks with other Android 4.4 devices to share files or set up a virtual surround-sound experience; a sound effects app called Samsung Level; S Console, a launcher app for Samsung's gaming peripherals; and Samsung eMeeting, an app that lets you share presentations to multiple devices' screens.
The Galaxy Gifts widget takes you to another list of downloadable apps - these are freebies that come as value-adds. Some are limited-time subscriptions while others are premium versions of free apps. You get 1TB of storage for three months from Bitcasa, 50GB for two years from Dropbox and 50GB for six months from Box, in-game credits for assorted games, three months of comics from the Marvel Unlimited app, six months of premium Pocket and Real Player Cloud, a year of Evernote Premium, six-month subscriptions to the Economist, NYT and WSJ, one free Kindle book per month, and more.
Samsung seems to have overcome its proclivity to preinstall thousands of apps, but it's nice to know that you can choose from all these offers. There are of course still quite a few, and much like the ones on the Galaxy Note Pro, they seem geared for business users. There's Remote PC, Cisco WebEx, Bloomberg Businessweek+, Hancom Office Viewer, and the NYTimes app. There's also SideSync 3, which lets users mirror your Android device's screen on a PC, control it with your mouse and keyboard, and back up data. The Peel Smart Remote app lets you control your TV, set-top box and other AV components.
The camera app feels much like the one on the Galaxy S5. There are load of options including a timer, face detection, stabilisation, burst, voice control, white balance and EV adjustment. Of course there are also plenty of modes and effects - HDR, panorama, dual camera, beauty face and "Shot & more" which takes a whole burst of shots and then offers you the best one, or lets you create a dramatic collage or a panning shot.
Overall, it's a strong and coherent showing by Samsung, and makes the Tab S feel packed with extravagant features without going completely over-the-top.

Huawei Confirms Dual-OS Smartphone For Q2 Release

Huawei has confirmed that a dual-OS smartphone will be available in the US in Q2 2014, running Android and Windows Phone operating systems.

Huawei's chief marketing officer, Shao Yang in an interview with TrustedReviews, has shed some light on the company's upcoming smartphone plans.

Yang was quoted as saying, "We are still committed to making Windows Phone devices. Compared with Android, the priority of Windows Phone is much lower but is still one of our choices of OS. We are definitely using a multi OS strategy."

It seems that despite Microsoft's desperate push (evinced by co-marketing reports in the past), device manufacturers like Huawei still consider its Windows Phone OS a secondary option to Google's Android.

Yang further said, "With Windows Phone, one direction for us - and one that we are now following - is dual-OS. Dual-OS as in Android and Windows together."

Yang claimed that the dual-OS device could be a new option of consumers who have been offered Android or Windows Phone on a device, and not both operating systems in a single device.

"If it is Windows only, maybe people will not find it as easy a decision to buy the phone. If they have the Android and Windows together, you can change it as you wish and it is much easier for people to choose Windows Phone," added Yang.

The technical details of the dual-OS implementation are not clear as of now, whether the Android and Windows Phone operating systems would be offered through a dual-boot menu at the start-up of the Huawei smartphone, or if the user would be able to switch between the two operating systems at any point.

Huawei might have confirmed its dual-OS smartphone for this year; however, Asus seems to have cancelled its plans for launching a dual-OS tablet which was expected to be launched this year.

Wall Street Journal in a report has suggested that the Taiwanese manufacturer had to suspend its plan under pressure of Google and Microsoft.

An earlier report had claimed that Microsoft, in an attempt to promote its mobile and tablet ecosystem, was considering offering free versions of Windows Phone and Windows RT to device makers.

Google testing new search page

Google has reportedly changed the way its search results page looks in a new experiment that shows larger fonts and the ads links are no longer shown with yellow background.

The large 'bucket' test currently underway has also got rid of the underlined search result links.

According to reports, ad links are now simply flagged with a small yellow label that says 'Ads,' a feature that had been originally introduced on tablet and mobile, before being tested on the desktop.

Google's experimental runs are to determine whether or not a change is either financially viable, benefits its user base, or, in the best case, both.

The report said that the changes to the search result look could be seen as an extension of a broader series of changes already in the works, which are meant to better unify the desktop and mobile experience.

Lenovo IdeaPad Tablet A1000 for Rs. 8,999

Lenovo has launched new Android tablet IdeaPad Tablet A1000 in India. The tablet is available in black colour and is priced at Rs. 8,999 on online stores and carries a 1-year manufacturer warranty.

The Ideapad Tablet A1000 has a 7-inch display with a 1024x600 pixel resolution. It runs on a 1.2GHz dual-core MediaTek 8317 processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. The tablet houses 4GB built-in storage expandable up to 32GB via a microSD card. The tablet has a 0.3MP front facing camera but no rear-facing camera. The tablet runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS.

The IdeaTab A1000 is 0.7mm thin and weighs a mere 340 grams. Lenovo claims 8 hours of Wi-Fi browsing on a single battery charge. The tablet also supports dual stereo speakers & Dolby audio enhancement.

Lenovo A1000 specifications

• 7-inch (1024 x 600 pixels) capacitive touchscreen display
• 1.2 GHz dual-core MediaTek MT8317 processor
• Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) OS
• 10.7 mm thick and weighs 340 grams
• Normal SIM card slot, Voice calling
• 0.3MP (VGA) front-facing camera
• 3.5mm audio jack, Front-facing speakers, Dolby Digital Plus
• 2G (EDGE), 3G (via Dongle), WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, USB OTG
• 1GB DDR2 RAM, 4GB internal memory , 32GB expandable memory with microSD
• 3500 mAh battery

Moto X Ready To Launch In India

Late last month, Motorola said that the Moto X was headed to India and Australia within 'next few weeks'. Now, Flipkart, which exclusively launched the Motorola Moto G in India, has confirmed that the 'Moto X is coming soon'. The tweet also promises exciting launch day offers, similar to ones seen with the Moto G India launch in February.

While there is no official word from Flipkart on the exact launch date, Viralrays  has learnt from its sources that the Moto X is likely to go on sale next week, starting 19 March.

Motorola launched the Moto X back in August last as an Android smartphone that users can customise via its website called Moto Maker. Flipkart confirmed in response to a query that users in India will not get a chance to customise their phone, and said the phone "will come with a fixed set of five colours & two wood variants."

Moto X was launched in the US carrying a $579 (Rs. 35,000 approximately), but the price was recently slashed to $399 (Rs. 24,000 approximately). While a sub-Rs. 25,000 price tag in India would be ideal, it's more likely that the phone will be priced around the Rs. 28,000 mark.

The Moto X features a 4.7-inch display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels. It is powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960Pro Snapdragon processor along with 2GB of RAM. There is 16GB of inbuilt storage. It also sports a 10-megapixel rear camera accompanied by an LED flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.

Samsung Unveiles Free Streaming Radio Service

Samsung on Friday unveiled a new free music service for its phones that it touts as a significant improvement from the apps already on the market.

The South Korean gadget maker's Milk Music service, which launched in the US on Friday, includes over 200 stations and 13 million songs. It's designed to be extremely fast, easy to use and highly customizable.But the new service enters an already crowded space. There are numerous streaming music services, including Pandora, Spotify and Apple Inc.'s iTunes Radio.

"We feel that while the music space is very competitive there is room for improvement," said Daren Tsui, vice president of music at Samsung Media Solutions.

Samsung's app features a large wheel reminiscent of an old-fashioned radio tuner. Users can spin through various genres of music to find something they like. Favourite stations can be added to a "My Stations" section, while individual songs can be tagged as favourites or put on a list never to be played.

Milk is powered by Slacker, which operates its own streaming music service. But unlike Slacker, Milk is ad-free at no cost. While Slacker does offer a basic service for free, it charges users $4 a month to remove advertising.

US users can now download the Milk app from Google Play. It works on most of Samsung's Galaxy line of phones, but isn't compatible with devices made by other companies.

Yahoo To Stop Users Logging Into Its Services With Google And Facebook

Yahoo will stop letting consumers access its various online services, including Fantasy Sports and photo-sharing site Flickr, by signing-in with their Facebook or Google credentials.

The change, which will be rolled out gradually according to a Yahoo spokeswoman, will require users to register for a Yahoo ID in order to use any of the Internet portal's services.

The move marks the latest change to Yahoo by Chief Executive Marissa Mayer, who is striving to spark fresh interest in the company's Web products and to revive its stagnant revenue.

"Yahoo is continually working on improving the user experience," the company said in a statement, noting that the new process "will allow us to offer the best personalised experience to everyone".

The first Yahoo service to require the new sign-in process is Yahoo Sports Tourney Pick'Em, a service focused on the NCAA college basketball tournament which begins later this month. News of the change to Yahoo's Tourney Pick'Em sign-in process was first reported by the technology blog Betanews.

Since Mayer took the reins in 2012, the company has rolled out new versions of many of its key products, including Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Finance. Last year, Yahoo announced a program to recycle inactive Yahoo user IDs, letting new users claim email addresses that have not been used for more than 12 months.

In eliminating the Facebook and Google sign-in features, Mayer, a former Google executive, is effectively reversing a strategy that Yahoo adopted in 2010 and 2011 under then CEO Carol Bartz.

The change to the Tourney Pick'Em sign-in process began on Monday, the Yahoo spokeswoman said, noting that users could still access other services with Google or Facebook IDs.

The sign-in buttons for Facebook and Google will eventually be removed from all Yahoo properties, the Yahoo spokeswoman, though she declined to provide a timeframe.

Panasonic P31 Smartphone To Be Launched In India On March First Week

It's been almost a week since Panasonic India started teasing the arrival of its new smartphone P31, and now an official spokesperson from the company informed us that the phone is coming to India on March 6. However, there is no information on its pricing and availability yet.

If rumours are to be believed, the Panasonic P31 will come with a 5-inch display, 1.3GHz quad-core processor, an 8 megapixel rear camera, and a 2 megapixel front camera. It will be an Android phone.

The company has also revealed some of its features in the official teaser images. The first teaser image hints at a new way to unlock the phone. The phone is expected to allow users to "draw to unlock" the device.

Another teaser image talks about "Pop-I-Player", which apparently will be a "multi-tasking video application".The phone is also likely to come with a feature that will help you make the most of its battery.

BBM To Let You Share Photos In Multi-Person Chats And Transfer Larger Files

Bringing new features and improvements to BBM, BlackBerry has now announced that BBM will soon support photo sharing in multi-person chats. This comes as an addition to existing sharing options that exist in multi-person chats - sending voice notes, sharing your location powered by Glympse, and sending files from your Dropbox account.

BBM will also soon allow users to send larger files. "While our file size limit on shared files has historically been set at 6MB, we're increasing this to 16MB in the next release of BBM," said the company in a blog post. It means users will soon be able to exchange bigger pictures, larger documents and longer videos on BBM.

For example, the 6MB transfer limit allows users to send approximately 6 seconds of 1080p HD video. With the increase to 16MB, users will be able to send 16 seconds of video using the same settings. The company has also slightly increased the size of the emoticons.

BlackBerry last month said it will make its messaging service BBM available to Microsoft's Windows Phone and the upcoming Nokia X platforms in the coming months. BBM will be available as a free download from the Windows Phone Store this summer, while BBM for Nokia X will be available from the Nokia Store when the Nokia X platform launches.

BlackBerry recently had rolled out a major update for its iconic BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) app for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry. As part of the update, the most prominent addition was the addition of BBM Voice for Android and iPhone users.

Microsoft Reportedly Plans To Offer A Free OS

Microsoft which is already struggling with shrinking popularity of its Windows 8 operating system is now planning to release a free or low-cost version of Windows 8.1 OS. The operating system also known as Windows 8.1 with Bing will be offered to the users of Windows XP, Vista, and 7.

Redmond giant expects to overcome the massive loss in its income by pushing more users towards services like Bing, OneDrive, and Office.  On April 8 Microsoft is ending its support for XP and post April 8 users will be offered Windows 8.1 update according to Neowin, citing a tweet from Supersite for Windows. April 8 is also known as Microsoft’s “Patch Tuesday,” when it releases updates and fixes for a variety of Windows products. A week before April 8, on April 2, MSDN users may be able to get the update, according to the same report.

As reported by ZDNet Microsoft insiders revealed that Windows 8.1 with Bing “is key to Microsoft’s experimentation with monetization.” As for why there doesn’t yet appear to be any money-grabbing monetization, it’s likely that this is just a very early build. We have no idea if Windows 8.1 with Bing will debut at the same time as Update 1 (due to be released on April 8), or whether it’s following its own separate schedule.

This week saw Microsoft offering users Bing Rewards program 100GB of OneDrive cloud storage in exchange for 100 Rewards credits, which is worth $50. Microsoft offered the deal as a “perk for our most consistent and loyal Bing users.”

Still the bigger question remains open that how Microsoft will cope-up with massive financial loss by offering Windows 8.1 for free.

Nokia Lumia 525 Review

Nokia is trying to be something to everyone with its current lineup of Lumias - they come in a variety of shapes, sizes, materials and colours. However the nature of Windows Phone as an OS hasn't made it easy for Nokia hit all the right price points. Nokia's devices were either too premium or too weak to capture the interest of buyers in the critical sub-Rs. 10,000 mass market.

That started to change with the introduction of the Lumia 520. With its low price, bright colours and unique design, the Lumia 520 was a breath of fresh air in a dull market segment overflowing with similar-looking Android phones from second-tier brands. According to a recent report, the Lumia 520 accounts for nearly 45 percent of all Windows Phone devices sold in India, and just over 25 percent worldwide.

Even so, there was room for improvement. The Lumia 520 was criticised for coming with only 512MB of RAM and dispensing with a front-facing camera. Honestly, though, the front cameras on phones in this price range are generally so bad that they're unusable anyway, and video chatting isn't popular enough for it to be a significant miss. The low amount of RAM was more of an issue, since people were afraid that heavier apps and games wouldn't run well.

The Lumia 525 is thus a mid-lifecycle update which fixes this problem and leaves pretty much everything else exactly as it was. Nokia has responded to buyers' and reviewers' criticisms and has done what it could without raising costs too drastically. It's good to see that the company is on its toes. Even if this helps sway only a few buyers who were earlier on the fence, every small victory counts.

However, the Lumia 525 is still smaller and weaker than many of the Android options available in its price range. Windows Phone is better than it was, but there's still not guarantee that you'll find all the apps you need or the games you'll see your friends enjoy on their Android phones. Let's see if the Lumia 525 has enough going for it to compensate for these factors.

• Look and feel

There's no mistaking Nokia's visual identity. The use of bright-coloured polycarbonate was a risky choice, but it's paid off. You might not want to own a bright cyan, magenta or yellow phone, and for that reason they're also available in at least black or white, but you'll always know that these phones are Nokias.

Our review unit had a bright, glossy, almost-fluorescent yellow shell that was sometimes too overpowering to look at. Even when the review unit was lying on its back on a table the side panel was eye-catching enough to be distracting. When viewed head-on, there's about a half-mm border of yellow plastic around the front panel, and that was distracting too! Thankfully, Nokia sells replacement shells in white, orange and yellow, so if you buy this colour only to find it a bit much for your taste later on, you can swap it out.

If you've ever used a Lumia 520, you'll find the 525 identical in terms of dimensions and weight. It's easy enough to hold and use in one hand, and is actually quite small by today's standards. The back is curved nicely, although the front corners are a bit sharp.

Nokia's habit of placing all buttons on the right edge has become a bit of a Lumia trademark: you'll find the volume rocker, standby button and camera shortcut all in a row. It makes sense to have the power button on the side of larger phones, but on this one it winds up being awkwardly out of reach.

You'll find the standard Windows Phone Back, Home and Search buttons below the screen, and nothing but an earpiece and Nokia logo above it. As mentioned already, there's no front-facing camera. There are two sensor cutouts, but they're completely invisible. If it wasn't for the garish colour, we'd actually say this phone looks simple and understated.

All you'll see on the back is the camera lens, a faint Nokia logo, and a small cutout for the loudspeaker. There's no flash, and the lens doesn't need to bulge out either. The shell is highly glossy and rather flat in the middle, so it's likely to get scuffed up over time as you use it.

The shell pops off without too much trouble, but it's too easy to end up pushing the camera lens down for leverage, which leaves it smudged. Underneath, you'll see a traditional removable battery and slots for a single Micro-SIM card and a microSD card positioned such that you'll need to take the battery out to get to them. We noticed that it was necessary to put the shell back on carefully, to make sure the plastic buttons on the shell lined up properly with the contact points on the phone itself.

Nokia's recent phones have shipped with chargers that for some reason have a plastic earthing pin. Phone chargers don't need to be earthed, so the only purpose this could serve would be to open the shutters on modern three-pin sockets. The plastic pin slides inwards so the charger itself isn't much more bulky than usual, but it means you won't be able to use two-pin sockets. The Lumia 525's charger also has a fixed wire, unlike almost every other phone on the market today. For PC syncing there's a separate, but much shorter USB cable.

• Features, specifications and software

Apart from the doubled amount of RAM, the Lumia 525 is internally identical to the 520. It's powered by a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus, with integrated Adreno 305 graphics. The S4 Plus is acceptable for such a low-end device, but there are quad-core Android models on the market in this price range now. The lone camera can take 5-megapixel stills and 720p videos, but there's no flash.

The screen resolution is 480x800 which was common in the early days of Windows Phone, and now feels about right for a 4-inch screen on a low-end phone. The screen isn't nearly as sharp or accurate as we'd like. There's 8GB of built-in storage and the microSD slot will accept cards up to 64GB in capacity. Nokia has given the Lumia 525 a relatively small 1430mAh battery which is adequate considering that none of the internal components are particularly power-hungry.

A quick dip into the phone's info screen told us that it was running Lumia Black, the latest version of Windows Phone with Nokia's customisations baked in. However, many of the useful little tweaks that we saw on Nokia's higher-end Lumia 1320 and 1520 are missing here: there's no Glance screen and no shortcuts like double-tap-to-wake. You'll also get the less capable Nokia Drive app, rather than Drive+. The difference is that you get navigation and turn-by-turn directions only in India rather than full international coverage.

Nokia Smart Cam lets you take bursts of photos and then either pick the best one or combine them all into an action sequence. You can also blur backgrounds to emphasise motion, merge shots to make sure everyone in a group is smiling, and remove unwanted moving objects. As we've seen even on more capable hardware, it's possible to get good results with the tricks that merge multiple shots, but you'll have to try a few times to make sure people or objects are moving at just the right speed, with just the right background.

There isn't much else to say about the Lumia 525's software. Nokia preloads Zinio, a news aggregation and magazine reader app; Bigflix, for streaming Indian movies; Flipkart's ebook reader; and Nokia Beamer, which lets you stream your screen's contents to a Web browser via the Internet. Of course you get Microsoft Office, Xbox Games and SkyDrive (soon to be renamed to OneDrive) as well.

• Camera

We were very pleasantly surprised by the quality of images captured by the Lumia 525. The only complaint we had with photos taken in daylight was that they tended to be a bit overexposed, thus making colours appear washed out. The level of detail captured, even when focusing on grass, is amazing considering this phone's entry-level status.

With no flash to help out at night, it seems that Nokia has developed a way to make low-light shots brighter. When taking photos, we were surprised by how they made rooms look lit up even when the only light was coming from outside. This comes at the cost of clarity and detail, and you'll notice a lot of noise and speckling when looking at these photos at 100 percent zoom.

• Performance

We were happy enough with the Lumia 525's performance when it came to navigating through the interface. The phone took a bit of time to load some apps, but things were otherwise smooth. We noticed some graphical glitches in Temple Run 2, which really shouldn't have put that much stress on the phone. With that in mind, it would seem that high-end games are totally out of the question.

Benchmark scores came in at roughly half as much as the Lumia 1320's, which in turn were roughly half as good as the Lumia 1520's. It's clear that you get what you pay for, and so Nokia's new entry-level Lumia remains exactly where the 520 was in terms of both performance and value. We'll have to wait for the next generation to see Nokia up the ante.

It should come as no surprise that the Lumia 525 struggled to play HD videos. Simple AVI files worked fine, but anything encoded at a heavy bit-rate should be avoided. The built-in speaker is loud enough, but sounds a bit hollow and tends to distort sound at if the volume is set higher than halfway up.

Our battery life loop test took 7 hours, 17 minutes to kill the Lumia 525 with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi switched off and the screen brightness set to Medium. That's a pretty decent figure, and you should be able to get through a full day of calls, texts, music and simple Web browsing.

• Verdict

The Lumia 525 is a small, affordable phone with a surprisingly decent camera and plenty of attitude, but not much else going for it. When held up to similarly priced Android phones, it's hard to make a case in favour of Windows Phone, which is why Nokia has capitalised on looks and ease of use.

If you're looking for the most powerful phone available for around Rs. 10,000, this is not it. You'd be better off with Lenovo's A706, for example. However there is one very clear market for the Lumia 525: first-time smartphone users. If you're graduating from feature phone (Nokia or otherwise) and are looking for a phone that will let you browse the Web, take good photos and use Facebook or WhatsApp easily and in style, this phone is a pretty decent option.

NASA To Launch Water Related Satellite In Collaboration With ISRO

US space agency NASA today said it would launch a water-related satellite in collaboration with India's ISRO.The NASA-Indian Space Research Organisation Synthetic Aperture Radar mission is a part of its plan to launch in the next seven years a series of satellite related to water and draught, the agency said.

Among others include the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2); Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) Follow-on and Surface Water Ocean Topography mission.

"These satellite missions join more than a dozen NASA airborne sensors focused on regional-scale issues, understanding detailed Earth science processes and calibrating and validating NASA satellites," the space agency said.

"NASA monitors Earth's vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing," it said.

"The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet," it said.

NASA said it is scheduled to launch three new Earth science missions this year, which will contribute to water cycle research and water-related national policy decisions.The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, a joint satellite project with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency scheduled for launch Thursday, February 27, will inaugurate an unprecedented international satellite constellation that will produce the first nearly global observations of rainfall and snowfall. The new information will help answer questions about our planet's life-sustaining water cycle, and improve water resource management and weather forecasting.

"ISS-RapidScat, scheduled to launch to the International Space Station (ISS) in June, will extend the data record of ocean winds around the globe. The data are a key factor in climate research, weather and marine forecasting and tracking of storms and hurricanes," NASA said.

"The Soil Moisture Active Passive , launching in November, will inform water resource management decisions on water availability. SMAP data also will aid in predictions of plant growth and agricultural productivity, improve short-term weather forecasts and long-term climate change projections, and advance our ability to monitor droughts and predict floods and mitigate their related impacts on people's lives," the space agency said.

Samsung Unveils Galaxy S5 Smartphone

Samsung sought Monday to frame its new Galaxy S5 smartphone as a lifestyle product, as it emphasized a built-in heart-rate sensor and improved camera features over its slightly larger size.

One of the main appeals of Samsung phones has been their size. The screen has steadily increased since the 4 inches  on the original S from 2010, while the iPhone made that jump to 4 inches only in 2012 and has stayed that way since.

But the S5 pushes the screen to only 5.1 inches measured diagonally, from 5 inches  in last year's model. Instead of size, Samsung touted the new phone's ability to adapt its screen to changing external conditions and to dim it to avoid disturbing others nearby.

The phone has a 16 megapixel camera, sharper than the 13 megapixels in its predecessor. It promises faster auto focus and the ability to blur the foreground or background of an image to emphasize a subject.

Samsung Electronics Co. made the latest announcement during the Mobile World Congress wireless show in Barcelona, Spain.

The new phone will go on sale worldwide on April 11. The company didn't announce a price; its predecessor sold for about $600 without phone subsidies or a contract.

The S5 has a fingerprint sensor to use in place of a passcode to unlock the phone or make payments through PayPal. It's a feature still rare in phones, though Apple introduced it in last fall's iPhone 5s.

Samsung's Galaxy S series has emerged as one of the strongest challengers to Apple's iPhones and has helped the Korean company surpass Apple as the world's largest smartphone maker. According to Gartner, Samsung's smartphones had a worldwide market share of 31 per cent last year, compared with 16 per cent for Apple's iPhones.Samsung showed restraint this time.

"Samsung is betting big on wellness, fingerprint reading and camera autofocus, while keeping a very similar look and feel for its hardware and software," said Nick Dillon, a senior analyst at the research firm Ovum. "The updates are so minor that on first glance most consumers would be hard pressed to notice that it has changed from the previous version."

But he said that is to be expected "given the maturity of the smartphone market and the pressure on the Samsung not to mess with its winning formula.''

The heart-rate sensor on the S5 can be used before and after exercise to measure fitness activities. It's not meant for continuous tracking. Samsung also unveiled a fitness band, Gear Fit, to complement two new computerized watches announced Sunday. Those will be available April 11 as well. 

Nokia Launches Its First Android Based Budget Phones

Nokia introduced a new family of smartphones, the Nokia X series of phones. The first three phones in the family - the Nokia X, X+ and XL - run on the new Nokia X software platform, that is based on Google's Android.

The phones under the Nokia X family are not pure Android phones; these phones instead run a forked variant of Android, similar to the way Amazon does for its Kindle Fire lineup. Nokia has taken the open-source elements of Android and has pulled in other elements of Asha and Windows Phone to offer users a different experience.

The downside here is that Nokia X users can't have access to the Google Play Store for apps. However, the phone will run Android apps, but Nokia will curate a list of such apps. A recommended source for the apps is the Nokia store, says the company. In other words, the new platform, Nokia X, is based on the Android Open Source project .

Nokia ditches many of the Google services that come with Android, which Google lets phone makers customise at will. Instead, the new Nokia X phone announced will emphasise Microsoft services such as Bing search, Skype communications and OneDrive file storage. Its home screen sports larger, resizable tiles resembling those on Windows phone.

Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL form a new family of Nokia's affordable smartphones. The Nokia X is the entry-level model in the family, will cost 89 euros, and will be available immediately in select markets. The Nokia X+ offers more memory and storage. It's priced at 99 euros and will be available in early Q2 2014. Finally, the Nokia XL packs a 5-inch screen, 5 megapixel rear-facing and 2 megapixel front-facing camera. It will be priced at 109 euros and be available in early Q2 2014.

These phones feature a brand new, tile-based home screen. The new OS also reintroduces a redesigned version of its Fastlane notifications centre - a second Home screen if you like - from the latest Asha devices.

"The X family boasts Nokia's exciting, high quality hardware design and a range of bright colours. The brand new, tile-based Home screen offers you a simple, elegant way to manage your apps and phone functions and also reintroduces a redesigned version of the enormously popular Fastlane notifications centre - a second Home screen if you like - from the latest Asha devices," said Nokia.

Here Maps with turn-by-turn navigation and offline maps are also included. Free cloud storage from Microsoft OneDrive with 7GB of space for free is included out of the box. There's also access to Outlook.com as your email service. And there's Skype with a month's free calls to international landlines in selected markets.

All three devices are powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor and are dual-SIM phones. A range of third-party apps comes pre-installed, including BBM, Plants vs Zombies 2, Viber, Vine and Twitter.

At launch, leading global apps will be available for the Nokia X family of devices, including Facebook, LINE Free Voice and Messages, LINE Camera, LINE Bubble, Picsart, Plants vs Zombies 2, Real Football 2014, Skype, Spotify, Swiftkey, Twitter, Viber, Vine and WeChat, among others. And in a first for Nokia customers around the world, BBM will also be available on the Nokia X family of devices in addition to Windows Phone.

Samsung Galaxy S5 To Be Unveiled Today

Samsung Electronics will unveil its highly-anticipated Galaxy S5 at the event scheduled at the Mobile World Congress on Monday in Barcelona.

The Galaxy S5 is variously rumoured to have a fingerprint scanner on the home button; a 5.24-inch, full high-definition display; a water and dust-proof case, possibly metallic, and a 16 megapixel camera.

Samsung has already sent out invitations for "Samsung unPacked 5" event on February 24 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

The world's biggest smartphone maker is bracing for its weakest mobile annual profit growth in seven years amid fierce competition from Apple Inc and Chinese vendors, and as growth for high-end smartphones eases due to near saturation in many markets.

The launch at the annual industry gathering is set to reflect a new emphasis on costs, marking a departure from the glitzy marketing Samsung has deployed in the past, including the use of actors and a full live orchestra to launch the S4 at New York's Radio City Music Hall last year.

Meanwhile, Samsung has launched Sunday a new smart watch, the Gear 2, after a first version won over few critics, adding new features and ditching Google`s Android in favour of its own operating system.

Besides an array of features including sports tracking software and a heart rate monitor, the Gear 2 marks an important and widely rumoured step towards independence from Android.

The watch, available in two models -- the Gear 2 and the Gear 2 Neo, which has no camera -- will be powered by the Tizen operating system developed by Samsung with various partners to break free of the Android dominance.

Samsung To Unveil First Smartwatches With Own Platform

Samsung Electronics Co is to unveil harshly Sunday its first wearable smartwatch powered by its Tizen platform in its latest attempt to distance itself from Google Inc and fasten its software and facilities.
Samsung has been jointly developing its mobile platform considering Intel Corp, as the dominance of Google's understandable Android software, which Samsung uses for its Galaxy origin of products, continues to be credited following and is now used in in the works for 80 per cent of the global smartphone puff.
The South Korean company is due to unveil two auxiliary smartwatches on Sunday, less than six months after it introduced the Galaxy Gear wristwatch, later dispensation around Android, to prove that it is greater than just a hasty aficionado in press on following than opponent Apple Inc.
The Galaxy Gear wristwatch has been criticised for its clunky design and hard-to-use features.
The motivate furthermore underscores Samsung's throbbing forward occurring subsequent to calculation products to revive slowing build going on in its mobile issue, the tech giant's biggest earnings driver, as sales of high-cease smartphones have eased in many avant-garde markets.
For the enlarge Galaxy Gear 2 and Neo 2, to be unveiled at an annual trade fair in Barcelona upon Sunday, Samsung has not significantly upgraded the hardware upon offer.
Instead, it has moved a camera to the watch's main body from the strap and different a couple of enhanced software offerings such as unfriendly TV controlling, a fitness features once heart rate monitoring, and a standalone music artiste charity, Samsung said in a avowal.
The Neo does not have a camera.The add-on devices, which will be followed by Samsung's subsidiary flagship smartphone to be announced upon Monday, will go upon sale globally in April.