Google and Microsoft disclose new Variant 4 Meltdown, Spectre CPU flaw

Back in the start of 2018, Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaw affected most of the CPUs including Intel, ARM, and others. Months after the detection, Google's Project Zero’s (GPZ) and Microsoft have discovered another new form of Spectre-Meltdown CPU flaw;  Speculative Store Bypass (variant 4). The latest vulnerability is similar to Spectre and exploits speculative execution that modern CPUs use. However, Intel claims that they have not seen any reports of this method being used in real-world exploits so far. Browsers like Safari, Edge, and Chrome were all patched for Meltdown earlier this year, and according to Intel, these mitigations are also applicable to variant 4 and available for consumers to use today. Similar to Spectre, the new Variant 4 will also affect performance upon fixing it with firmware updates. Intel says that it has already delivered the microcode update for Variant 4 in beta to OEMs and system software vendors, and the broad reach is expected to be available in the coming weeks. This update would set the Speculative Store Bypass protection to off-by-default, so users won't notice any performance impacts. However, if enabled, a noticeable performance impact of approximately 2 to 8% is seen based on overall scores for benchmarks like SYSmark 2014 SE and SPEC integer rate on client and server test ...

Samsung Galaxy J4 with 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display, Exynos 7570 14nm SoC, Android 8.0 announced

Samsung has announced the Galaxy J4 (SM-J400) in the J-series. It comes with 5.5-inches AMOLED display with good old 16:9 aspect ratio. It is powered by the Samsung's very own Exynos 7570 Quad-Core 14nm processor with 2GB of RAM.  The Samsung Galaxy J4 (2018) packs a 13MP rear camera with F1.9 aperture, LED flash. While on the front, there is a 5MP shooter with f2.2 aperture. The device doesn't come with any Fingerprint sensor or Face Unlock, unlike the J6 (2018) series. It runs on Android 8.0 Oreo with Experience U.I on top, has 3000mAh battery on board. Samsung Galaxy J4 specifications 5.5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD Super AMOLED display 1.4GHz Octa-Core Exynos 7570 14nm processor with Mali-T720 MP1 2GB RAM with 16GB storage, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD Android 8.0 (Oreo) Dual SIM 13MP rear camera with LED flash, f/1.9 aperture 5MP front-facing camera with LED flash, f/2.2 aperture Dimensions:151.7 x 77.2 x 8.1mm; Weight: 145g 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, GPS 3000mAh battery The Samsung Galaxy J4 (2018) comes in Black, Orchid Gray, and Gold colors, the pricing is yet to be revealed by Samsung. Source

Honor 7A and 7C with 5.7-inch and 5.99-inch FullView displays, dual rear cameras, Android Oreo launched in India starting at Rs. 8999

Huawei's Honor brand just launched the Honor 7A and Honor 7C , the company's latest budget smartphones in the '7 series' in India, as it had promised. Both the phones have a 5.7-inch and 5.99-inch 18:9 FullView 2.5D curved glass displays, respectively, come with a 13-megapixel rear camera along with a 2-megapixel secondary camera to capture depth information in portrait shots. There is also an 8-megapixel front camera with LED flash on both the phones. These feature a fingerprint sensor on the back, in addition to face unlock. These run Android 8.0 (Oreo) with the company's own EMUI 8.0 on top, have dedicated dual SIM and microSD slots and pack a 3000mAh battery. Honor 7A  specifications 5.7-inch (1440 x 720 pixels) 18:9 FullView 2.5D curved glass display Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 ( 4 x 1.2 GHz Cortex A53 + 4 x 1.5 GHz Cortex A53) 64-bit Mobile Platform with Adreno 505 GPU 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD Android 8.0 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.0 Dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD) 13MP rear camera with LED flash, f/2.2 aperture, secondary 2MP rear camera 8MP front-facing camera with LED flash, f/2.0 aperture 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio, Karaoke on the go with real-time audio monitoring, party mode Fingerprint ...

Twitter rolls out its own Twemoji emojis on Android

Twitter is rolling out its own Twemoji on Android, and this will replace the native emojis previously shown from Google and Samsung. This new emoji set looks to be targeting users on Android 7.x and below. After facing numerous cases of missing emojis on older systems, the new Twitter's own Twemoji on Android will now be a fresh breath of air. The slow adoption rate of new Android releases has been a major concern for Google. While this issue is nothing new, the lack of new emoji support for years after a release really highlights the issue for users. This new move by Twitter will bring the app in line with the emojis seen on Twitter.com (mobile and desktop), as well as TweetDeck. It is also worth noting that emoji implementation has been done using Google's own EmojiCompat library which is created by Google back in 2017. This allows apps to support new emojis even on old systems. Twitter is now using the same tech to implement Twemoji designs for pre-8.X Android users. This really is a welcome change for users who are stuck with older Android version. Source

Google Photos gets ability to mark photos as favorites

Google constantly and consistently keeps pushing updates to its flagship apps, and today it is the Photos app. The app has received the ability to mark photos as favorites with stars and hearts. This makes it easier to view all the favorited pictures in one place instead of scrolling through numerous pictures. [HTML1] It is also getting the new 'Heart' reaction which you can give to the photos in the shared album. As you would expect, once you are starring pictures, a Favorite album is created, this feature is rolling out later this week to everyone, so if you don't see the Star icon just yet, don't panic, it is coming. At the I/O early this month, Google introduced a bunch of new AI features including the AI-suggested quick edits, color pop, and the ability to colorize old images. [HTML2] On the other hand, the 'Heart reaction' feature will be coming soon with no timeframe mentioned by Google, so keep an eye out.

OnePlus 6 preview sale in India saw record Rs. 100 crore worth sale within first 10 minutes

OnePlus launched the flagship OnePlus 6 on May 17th in India and it went on for the preview sale on May 21st. The company today announced it had achieved a record Rs. 100 crore sale within the first 10 minutes of the OnePlus 6 first preview sale in India. That's about 25000 unit sales. [HTML1] The sale started at 12:00 PM exclusively for the OnePlus community and Amazon Prime members on oneplus.in and Amazon.in, respectively. The device later went on for an open sales across all online and offline OnePlus retail platforms yesterday midnight i.e., May 22nd, 2018. This preview sale has also exceeded entire Day 1 sales of the OnePlus 5T within the first hour. Commenting on the record sales, Vikas Agarwal, General Manager - India, OnePlus said: OnePlus 6 is our best ever smartphone that offers a perfect balance of performance and design to give our community a device that is both supremely powerful and extremely easy to use. We are truly humbled by the unprecedented response that reflects the highest level of customer satisfaction and the strong trust in the brand. It is also a great validation of our focused approach and long-term commitment to the Indian market.

Instagram testing ‘You’re All Caught Up’ feature to improve digital health

Instagram's news feed algorithm always makes it hard to determine when you have finished viewing all the latest posts. However, it looks like Instagram is now planning on fixing it as the company is testing a new 'You're All Caught Up' which will let users know when all the unseen posts from the last 48 hours have been viewed.  The feature was first spotted by TechCrunch, and an Instagram spokesperson has confirmed the same and is showing up to limited test group users. However, it is unclear if it would show all the posts from followers or would just show the top picked posts by the algorithm. Interestingly, this feature is part of the time spent’ Usage Insights tool which it confirmed to be working last week. This feature will show users the time they spend on the Instagram app. The new You're All Caught Up' feature should put an end to the unhealthy users endless scrolling and also would help users not miss a post from their friends, family. It would also reduce the time spent on the app for users. The current news feed algorithm was rolled back in 2016. While Instagram did confirm that it is testing the feature, it didn’t confirm when the feature would ...

Google Maps for iOS gets new 3D car icons to replace classic blue navigation arrow

Google Maps usually shows a classic blue navigation arrow while using the directions. However, Google today is rolling out a stylish sedan, a timeless pickup truck, or a speedy SUV to swap the blue navigation arrow depending on your mood.  There is no particular reason for the rollout of this feature, instead, it is to spice up the navigation experience. To swap, tap on the arrow while in driving navigation mode to select your vehicle of choice. This new navigation icon is available only on iOS, for now, the company didn't mention anything about the Android roll out yet but should be coming out in the coming days. In a blog post, Google said: There’s now a new way to customize your drive on Google Maps for iOS. Depending on your mood, you can swap out the classic blue navigation arrow for a new icon—a stylish sedan, a timeless pickup truck, or a speedy SUV. Get started by tapping on the arrow while in driving navigation mode to select your vehicle of choice, and hit the road with a brand new car, so you can have that new car feeling without the down payment. Source

HMD Global raises $100 million, will invest in growth of Nokia

HMD Global - the home of Nokia phones, today announced that it has raised additional $100 million from multiple investors to scale business operations and fund the company’s growth in its second year. This round of investment has been led by Geneva-based, Ginko Ventures via Alpha Ginko Ltd. with participation from DMJ Asia Investment Opportunity Limited and Wonderful Stars Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of FIH Mobile Ltd. With the current round of funding, the market valuation exceeds $1 billions, and HMD Global have said to make strategic investments in scaling its fast-growing business operations. In 2018, the company plans to expand its portfolio of Nokia smartphones aggressively, and double down on expanding channel reach in strategic markets. In its first year, HMD Global has shipped more than 70 million Nokia branded phones in over 80 countries with phone activations coming from 170 countries. The Nokia phones are now being sold at over 250,000 retail outlets across the world, and more than 600 direct trade partners are committed to joining soon. In the financial year 2017, HMD Global posted a total revenue of EUR 1.8 billion (USD 2.13 billion) along with an operational loss of EUR 65 million (USD 77 million). Florian Seiche, CEO, HMD Global, ...

Qualcomm, Facebook partner to bring high-speed internet connectivity in urban areas

Qualcomm has partnered with Facebook to deliver high-speed internet connectivity with Facebook’s Terragraph technology through the development of a multi-node wireless system based on 60GHz technology from Qualcomm. This terrestrial system improves speed, efficiency, and quality of internet connectivity around the world at only a fraction of the cost of fiber deployments. Qualcomm will integrate its QCA6438 and QCA6428 chipsets with Facebook's Terragraph technology and will help in building 60GHz mmWave solutions using the unlicensed 60GHz spectrum and provide Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) consumers in urban areas access to high-speed broadband connections. Yael Maguire, vice president of connectivity, Facebook said: We’re excited to work with Qualcomm Technologies to advance the adoption of pre-802.11ay and 802.11ad 60GHz technologies and build a robust ecosystem of interoperable solutions based on Terragraph. With Terragraph, our goal is to enable people living in urban areas to access high-quality connectivity that can help create new opportunities and strengthen communities. Irvind Ghai, vice president, product management, Qualcomm Atheros said: Our collaboration with Facebook will bring advanced 11ad and pre-11ay technologies to market increasing broadband penetration and enabling operators to reduce their capex for last mile access. Terragraph cloud controller and TDMA architecture coupled with Qualcomm Technologies solution’s 10 Gbps link rate, low power consumption and early interference mitigation ...