Honor Note 10 with large screen, big battery to be announced on July 31

Huawei's Honor brand has finally sent out invites for the announcement of Honor Note 10, a new Note series smartphone and the successor of  Honor Note 8 which was introduced back in 2016. The company is skipping the Honor Note 9 which was supposed to be introduced last year. The company says that it will have a large FulView display with minimal bezels, huge battery and will offer smooth performance that will let the phone stay cool. Earlier rumors said that the phone will pack a 6.9-inch QHD+ screen with minimal bezels, powered by Kirin 970 SoC with GPU Turbo, the company’s latest technology that increases graphics processing efficiency, 6GB RAM, 128GB storage and a huge 6000mAh battery, which could be the biggest in the Honor series. However some rumors say that it will pack the latest Kirin 710 SoC and compete with the Xiaomi Mi Max 3 that was introduced this week. We should know more details about the Honor 10 in the coming days. The phone should also Source

Samsung and Xiaomi accounted for 9.9 million smartphone shipments in India in Q2 2018: Canalys

According to Canalys, Samsung, and Xiaomi each shipped a total of 9.9 million smartphones in the last quarter in India. Together, both the companies now account for a 60% market share which is up from 43% the same time last year. As for Xiaomi, the company has almost doubled its shipments putting it again in the first place. Samsung annual growth rate was nearly 50% and it is the company's best since Q4 2015.  Vivo took third place while OPPO came fourth, with shipments of 3.6 million and 3.1 million respectively. The overall shipments grew by 22% with 33 million units. Samsung's J2 Pro was its top-selling model in Q2 2018, with 2.3 million units. In, Xiaomi shipped 3.3 million of its Redmi 5A. Despite the growth of top brands, smaller vendors are not giving up and they continue to make tweaks to their business strategies with a view to long-term sustainability and profitability. Asus shipments almost tripled since the previous quarter, thanks to its partnership with Flipkart. OPPO which saw a 2.2 million in Q4 2017, has launched an online-only brand, Realme, challenging Xiaomi. Canalys Analyst TuanAnh Nguye said: Samsung has launched devices pitted directly against Xiaomi and its portfolio and is focusing on its cameras and imaging ...

Apple 2018 MacBook Pro Keyboard features ‘Membrane’ to prevent dust from entering the ‘Butterfly Mechanism’

Apple 2018 MacBook Pro models said to have been equipped with "membrane" that prevent debris from entering the butterfly mechanism. In an internal document distributed to Apple Authorized Service Providers, Apple seems to have confirmed the same. Though the US version of this Service Readiness Guide does not mention anything of this sorts, it does link to a separate internal document titled "Butterfly Mechanism Keycap Replacement MacBook Pro (2018)". This reads: "Caution The keyboard has a membrane under the keycaps to prevent debris from entering the butterfly mechanism. Be careful not to tear the membrane. A torn membrane will result in a top case replacement." iFixit is the first to discover the thin, silicone barrier underneath the keycaps in a teardown of the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.  Apple filed a patent for a contaminant-resistant MacBook keyboard back in 2016. As for Apple, it just confirmed that 2018 MacBook Pro models feature an "improved third-generation keyboard for quieter typing." After complaints from users, a few class action lawsuits, Apple has initiated a worldwide service program last month, offering free repairs of 2015-and-later MacBook and 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro keyboards, that came with low-profile butterfly switch mechanisms. However, the company confirmed that third-generation keyboards will not be offered as replacements under its service program for ...

Honor 9N with 5.84-inch FHD+ display, dual rear cameras launching in India on July 24 [ Update: Flipkart exclusive]

[Update: Honor has confirmed that the smartphone will be launched exclusively on Flipkart] P Sanjeev, Vice-President Sales, Huawei India-Consumer Business Group, said: We have had a long standing and trusted partnership with Flipkart for launching some of our best selling smartphones in the Indian market. We are delighted to announce that Flipkart will be our exclusive online sale partner for Honor 9N, our new smartphone. Accessibility to consumer is one of the most important aspect that we consider while launching a new product and this strategic partnership with Flipkart assures us of that. Flipkart shares our vision to deliver the best value to consumers and strongly believe that this partnership will further help us strengthen our position in the Indian smartphone market. Ayyappan Rajagopal, Senior Director, Mobiles at Flipkart, said: We are thrilled to partner yet again with Honor to exclusively launch their latest smartphone, Honor 9N in India. This phone will definitely be a game changer in terms of the extraordinary design that it offers in the price segment. We at Flipkart believe that there is a big market in India that appreciates design and beauty.This phone will be a clincher. This unique value proposition ties well with Flipkart’s objective of ensuring the ...

WhatsApp said to bring fake news verification model to India

WhatsApp senior executives from its US headquarters and India operations reportedly had met the Election Commission of India as a part of the upcoming Indian elections and the misuse possibilities on the platform. WhatsApp official told EC that it will look out for the options concerning the spam messaging techniques in the run-up to state polls scheduled for 2018-end. This will become active from the time the model code of conduct kicks in, and especially 48 hours before polling. The company will also bring the fake news verification model it recently used in Mexican general elections to India. People familiar with the internal developments inside WhatsApp confirmed that these meetings have been held and that the team comprises researchers, and executives dealing with public policy, customer operations and business development. Furthermore, EC officials said to have agreed to maintain secrecy through the period the model code of conduct is in force and will up its efforts 48 hours before polling begins. WhatsApp Indian team is also said to be planning to meet Indian banks which it needs to be in partnership for a peer-to-peer digital payments solution. The learning from monitoring the 2018-end elections will be used to frame a broader approach for general elections scheduled for ...

Microsoft revenue up by 17% YoY in FY Q4 2018, productivity and business products continue to grow

Microsoft today announced FY Q4 2018 results with a total revenue of $30.1 billion that is a growth of 17% compared to the same time last year. The company's total operating income was around $10.4 billion witnessing a growth of 35%. It reported a net income of $8.9 billion GAAP and $8.8 billion non-GAAP. Microsoft's diluted earnings per share was $1.14 GAAP and $1.13 non-GAAP. The total GAAP results include a net benefit of $104 million related to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) for the three months that ended on June 30, 2018. Microsoft has also returned a $5.3 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases in the Q4 of fiscal year 2018, an increase of 16% compared to the Q4 of fiscal year 2017. Revenue in Productivity and Business Processes was $9.7 billion with an increase of 13%. The company's Office commercial products and cloud services revenue increased by 10%. This is mainly driven by Office 365 commercial revenue which has seen a 38% growth. LinkedIn revenue increased 37% with continued acceleration in engagement that has seen a sessions growth of 41%. The revenue in Intelligent Cloud was $9.6 billion and increased 23%. Server products and cloud services revenue increased 26% ...

WhatsApp to limit ‘forward to multiple recipients’ to 5 chats at once in India, remove quick forward button

WhatsApp introduced an option to send or forward messages to multiple recipients, including groups instead of one user or a group at a time, back in 2016. Today it has said that it is launching a test to limit that to 5 chats at once in India - where people forward more messages, photos, and videos than any other country in the world. It will also remove the quick forward button next to media messages which was also introduced for both Android and iOS back in 2016. It said that it believe that these changes, which it will continue to evaluate - will help keep WhatsApp the way it was designed to be: a private messaging app. Last week it rolled out a new feature that to indicate which messages you receive have been forwarded to you, to give a better idea and determine if your friend or relative wrote the message they sent or if it originally came from someone else.  Source

Google’s Project Fuchsia OS said to be successor to Android

It is widely known that Google is working on called 'Project Fuchsia,' which is an experimental OS for tablets and phones. However, Bloomberg reports that Fuchsia could replace Android and Chrome OS within the next five years. It is being designed to accommodate voice interactions and frequent security updates. The OS will look and function the same across a range of devices, from laptops to tiny internet-connected sensors. It is known that Google began experimenting with applications, such as interactive screen displays and voice commands for YouTube. Now the Fuchsia OS team has a greater plan of creating a single operating system capable of running all the company’s in-house gadgets, like Pixel phones, smart speakers, and Chrome OS. According to the report, engineers of Fuchsia said they want to embed the OS on connected home devices, such as voice-controlled speakers, within three years, and later on, move to larger machines such as laptops. Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, and Hiroshi Lockheimer; Android/Chrome boss, have yet to sign off on a roadmap for Fuchsia. Google in a statement said: " Fuchsia is one of many experimental open-source projects" but declined to comment any further. This paves way for Google to address the Android fragmentation problem. With Android present in more than three-quarters of the world’s ...

Instagram now shows when your friends are online to DM

Instagram today is rolling out a new update which makes it easier to connect with friends and chat with them when they’re available. Whenever your friends are active, Instagram will show a green dot next to their profile picture including the Direct inbox and when you see their shared post in the news feed.  You will only see the status of your friends who follow you or people who you have talked to in Direct messaging. However, the company is also giving you an option to hide your own status and turn off the ability to see when your friends are active in your settings. Instagram is focusing on improving more real-time conversations while giving you the control to hide your status altogether. In a blog post, Instagram said: DMing friends and connecting over the content you love is more fun when you know your friends are there to see it. This update gives you the ability to have more of those realtime conversations while giving you the control to hide your status altogether. Source

Nokia 6.1 Plus (X6) Android One smartphone global roll out begins from Hong Kong

HMD Global has announced Nokia 6.1 Plus, the global version of the Nokia X6 smartphone in Hong Kong. It has similar specifications as the X6, including a 5.8-inch FHD+ display with a notch and 19:9 aspect ratio, Snapdragon 636, Android 8.1 (Oreo),  16-megapixel rear camera with RGB sensor, 5-megapixel secondary rear camera with a monochrome sensor, AI portrait and scene recognition and a 16-megapixel front camera with AI selfies with background blur, stickers and face unlock, but this comes only in 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version. It has a fingerprint sensor on the glass back, metal frame and packs a 3060mAh battery with support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging that can charge from 0 to 50% in 30 minutes. Nokia 6.1 Plus specifications 5.8-inch (2280 × 1080 pixels) Full HD+ display with 19:9 aspect ratio with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection 1.8GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 636 14nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 509 GPU 4GB RAM, 64GB internal storage, expandable memory up to 400GB with microSD Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano / microSD) Android 8.1 (Oreo), upgradable to Android P 16MP (RGB) rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, f/2.0 aperture, 1.0um pixel size, EIS, 5MP (Monochrome) secondary rear camera with f/2.2 aperture, 1.2um pixel ...