Google launches 150 Google Station Wi-Fi hotspots across Pune

Back in September 2016, Google introduced Google Stations, a new internet access platform for partners to setup, maintain and monetize their Wi-Fi networks in their places with Google Fiber. Later in February last year, Google bagged Rs. 150 crore deal to provide WiFi across Pune via its Google Station initiative. Today Google has announced that it has partnered with Larsen & Toubro to provide Google Station hotspots across Pune from last week, as part of Pune Smart City Development Corporation Limited's Smart City project. Google said that the first 150 Google Station hotspots (>location list here) are already operational in Pune, and it is currently testing the network based on performance to improve user experience. This is the first deployment of Google Station outside of the train stations, and will allow people of Pune get online with free Wi-Fi hotspots at gardens, hospitals, police stations, and offices around the city. Google also said that Google Station is built to be both the highest-quality and simplest Wi-Fi service for users and the easiest for partners to deploy — and it thinks that this makes Google Station a great connectivity partner for the growing number of Indian smart cities. Commenting on the launch of Google Station in Pune, Vinay Goel, ...

Airtel, Jio commit to invest Rs. 74,000 crore to expand infrastructure over call drops

  Airtel and Jio have readily committed to investing Rs. 74,000 by next fiscal year to upgrade and expand infrastructure and address the issue of call drops said Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan post the DoT review.  Bharti Airtel said that they have already invested Rs 16,000 crore on infrastructure and now will be spending another Rs 24,000 crore. On the other hand, the Reliance Jio are also committed to invest Rs 50,000 crore in installing 1 lakh towers in the coming fiscal year, Sundararajan said, after meeting senior officials of telecom companies. Apart from Airtel and Jio, Idea Cellular and Vodafone are also ready in committing to increasing mobile towers in their network. Furthermore, she said that while telecom operators in India have stabilized the call drop, it is the other problems like voice fading that have increased due to various issues, like mobile phones these days not complying with required certification norms. They have also raised the issue of illegal repeaters installed in networks which might be creating interference and affecting call quality. To which Sundararajan responded by saying "We will look into enforcing rules more stringently." Telecoms have reportedly claimed that around 400 callers in India are using the same mobile tower during same time which is not the case with other ...

Xiaomi teases Rose Gold smartphone is launching tomorrow, Rose Gold Redmi 5A expected

Valentine's Day is just a couple of weeks away. Today Xiaomi has teased a new Rose Gold version of its smartphone is launching tomorrow. The teaser doesn't show the phone, but the company's Redmi Twitter page has posted the teaser so it will be a Redmi smartphone. This will likely be the Rose Gold version of the Redmi 5A smartphone. [HTML1] The new color variant has also been listed on Flipkart. Even though the smartphone was introduced back in November last year in Dark Grey, Champagne Gold and Rose Gold colors, only the Gold and Grey color variants of the smartphone went on sale every week on Flipkart and Mi.com. The Redmi 5A is still one of the best value-for-money smartphones under Rs. 5000, packed with 5-inch HD screen, Snapdragon 425, dedicated SIM slots as well as Infrared sensor. The next Redmi 5A sale is scheduled for tomorrow, February 1st, so the new color variant might go on sale next Thursday, February 8th. https://youtu.be/3bxE0t4hjrs Check out our Redmi 5A review here.

VLC for Android beta adds Chromecast and Samsung DeX support

VLC has finally added support for Chromecast, which was first introduced back in 2013. The latest beta update for Android with V2.9.0 also brings support for Samsung's DeX as well as improved Chromebook support. Though the update is live in this update, it still states as experimental, meaning there might be unexpected crashes or might not work reliably. Apart from Chromecast support, the update also brings bug fixes, improvements for Android Oreo, and improved stability, and added support for more platforms. Opening up the VLC app, you can now see Chromecast icon when a compatible device is on the same network as your device. Once you press the icon, you will be shown Cast-compatible TVs, streaming sticks, speakers, etc. You can play your media be it video or audio. Chromecast with VLC is working with both local content and internet streams, but then, streams aren't fully supported just yet, which is why we guess the feature is in experimental. You can download the update from PlayStore if you are a beta tester, if not, you can manually side-load the APK from here and try it out. Source

Google Photos v3.13 brings motion photos search filter, photo book notifications and more

Google is rolling out a new update to the Photo app bringing the version number to V3.13. Unlike the recent updates, the latest version brings new features including motion photos search filter, photo book notifications, controls over promo notifications and more.  Google introduced Motion photos back in November which are direct competition to Apple's Live photos. However, the feature lacks the ability to search for the record motion photos unless you remember the time stamp. However, with today's update, Google is solving the problem by adding a new search bar that specifically pulls out the motion photo that you needed. To access the list of motion photos, simply tap on the search bar, then hit the "show more" button in the group of categories and then you will be able to find Motion Photos at the bottom of the list. Moving along, the new update also adds three new notification settings each connected to Photo Books. One notification when enabled will let you know the special pricing and promotions for purchasing printed books, another notification setting will post reminders about unfinished drafts, and the last will let you know the Photo Book suggestions. However, if you wish to stay silent, you can turn off the toggles in the open Settings -> Notifications ...

Xiaomi rolls out final MIUI 9.2 update for Redmi 1S and Redmi Note

Redmi 1S, Redmi Note/Prime were the devices which redefined their respective price segments back in 2014 and laid the foundation for Xiaomi’s success. These devices are pretty old now and so, Back in November, Xiaomi announced that MIUI 9 will be the last update for the devices which were launched back in 2014 and 2015, including Redmi 1S, Redmi 2/Prime, Redmi Note/Prime. MIUI 8.5 was the last update for the above mentioned devices which company rolled out about 5-6 months ago, and company decided to skip MIUI 9.0 update for these devices. Recently, the company started rolling out MIUI 9.2 to devices, the main highlights of MIUI 9.2 include Interactive and Fresh UI changes, New Gallery App, Calendar Cards, App Vault, Mi Video App, New Mi Explorer. As reported by users, Redmi 1S, Redmi Note/Prime are now receiving MIUI 9.2 update, MIUI 9.2 for Redmi 1S, Redmi Note/Prime is still based on KitKat, so users of these devices will not be able to enjoy few features like App Vault that MIUI 9 brings. These devices didn’t get some features like Dual Apps and Second Space with MIUI 8 due to Android OS limitation. The new version for Redmi 1S is MIUI 9.2.2.0.KHCMIEK, Redmi ...

Google took down over 700,000 bad apps from Play Store in 2017, 70% more than 2016

Android is the primary target for hackers to inject malware and Trojans. While Google actively purses in eliminating any vulnerabilities, some still make it in the form of Apps. Today Google has announced that it took down 700,000 bad apps that violated the Google Play policies from Play Store in 2017 which is also 70% more than the apps that it took down in 2016. Google further added that it not just removed the apps but also was able to identify and act against them. Close to 99% of apps were identified and rejected before anyone could install. This was possible through significant improvements in the ability to detect abuse such as impersonation, inappropriate content, or malware through new machine learning models and techniques, said Google. The new detection models and techniques that are capable of identifying repeated attempts and offenders took down 100,000 bad developers in 2017. Google further listed out the apps that fall into the bad category. First on the list is the "Copycats." This section apps deceive users by impersonating famous apps which is one of the most common violations. Since popular apps get tons of traffic and searches, it only makes sense. Next is the "Inappropriate content," Apps that promote content, such as pornography, ...

Snapchat gets Bitmoji Deluxe with new skin tones, facial features and more

Snapchat today introduced Bitmoji Deluxe feature with hundreds of new ways to customize your Bitmoji. The Bitmoji Deluxe feature includes new skin tones, hairstyles, eye and hair colors, facial features, and accessories. To start using the new Bitmoji Deluxe, you can click a Snap of yourself and use it as a reference to design your avatar. The feature will preview your avatar in the builder customization for you to know how your Bitmoji will look like. Once the feature is available for you, you can start accessing the tool via settings in the Bitmoji app and to change or customize, you can tap on "change avatar style". The app will prompt you for the new options if you are editing your avatar for the first time after the new feature is launched. If you love your current Bitmoji style, Bitmoji "Classic" and Bitstrips styles will still be available. Snap said that the new changes are introduced after collecting feedback from Bitmoji users and the internal team about new options. Snapchat bought Bitstrips by  Bitmoji back in 2016 for a reported $64 million in cash and stock. Since then it has introduced wide-range of features like Friendmoji stickers, 3D Bitmoji world lenses, and Bitmoji geofilters. The update with Bitmoji Deluxe already started rolling out to ...

Apple said to delay major iOS features to focus on reliability and performance for iOS 12

Apple has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately. The company's inability to be transparent enough with the battery throttling issue dented the brand's credibility among the common audience. And, now for the same reason, we hear that Apple is said to have been delayed some major iOS features like the re-designed home screen, in-car user interfaces, improvements to core apps to focus on reliability and performance for iOS 12. All the said feature are pushed to 2019, while this year, the focus will be limited to augmented reality improvements, health features, and improved parental controls, reports Axios. While it would have been good to see a refreshed home screen, but reports suggest that Apple's SVP Craig Federighi has revised the plans for iOS 12 with employees at a meeting earlier in January. The Apple's original plan was to introduce updated Home screen, CarPlay experience, updates to the stock Mail app and enhancements to photo editing and sharing. Now, these resources have been shelved to focus on reliability and performance for iOS 12 and make the iPhones more responsive. iOS 12 improvements, on the other hand, include advancements in augmented reality, digital health, and parental controls. However, Apple declined to comment. iOS 12 announcement will likely happen at the ...

Samsung reports record profits in Q4 2017, up 64% YoY, expects strong Galaxy S9 sales

Samsung has reported its earnings for Q4 2017, in which the company has made operating profit of 15.15 trillion won ($14.13 billion), up 64.3% YoY for the quarter that ended December 31, 2017. This is a new all-time high quarterly profit, due to strong sales of memory products for servers and mobile storage as well as OLED panels for premium smartphones. It reported revenue of 65.98 trillion won (61.54), a increase from 53.33 trillion won last year and net profit of 12.26 trillion won, a 72.9% increase from 7.09 trillion won for the same period a year earlier. For the whole FY17 it reported revenue of 239.58 trillion won, up 18.6% and operating profit of 53.65 trillion won, up 83.4% compared to the previous year. IM sector that includes Mobile Communications and Networks Businesses posted 25.47 trillion won consolidated revenue and 2.42 trillion won operating profit for the quarter, down 3.2% compared to 2.50 trillion won in the same quarter last year. "Earnings in the mobile business declined due to a hike in marketing costs under strong seasonality. Total smartphone shipments decreased due to the lineup optimization of low-end models, while shipments of flagship products, such as the Galaxy Note 8, increased from the previous quarter," said Samsung In 2018, Samsung ...