Amazon Audible audio book service launched in India

Amazon has finally launched its Audible service in India. This lets you listen to your favourite books using the Audible app. The company says that it has over 200,000 audiobooks narrated by  performers across several genres. The company says that the service is currently in beta and it is still adding more new and exciting Indian and international audiobooks every day. Audible subscription costs Rs. 199 per month after a 30-day trial as well as one free audiobook. You can cancel the subscription anytime. Select users get 90-day free trial along with a credit towards three free audiobooks. For Indian users, it is offering 1 credit a month that lets you use it on any audiobook regardless of the price. You can roll over up to six unused credits to the next months. Once you subscribe, you get to keep the audiobooks in your Audible library, even if you cancel the membership. You can also swap the books if you don't like it.  Apart from the base subscription, you also have a 6-month and 12-month plan priced at Rs 1,345 and Rs 2,332 respectively.  The company says that it is offering 30% off on additional saving on audiobooks for exclusive members. You can signup for Audible using you existing Amazon ...

GigSky brings eSIM support for iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs and Xs Max

GigSky has officially launched the eSIM service for iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max, and iPhone Xr to its North American and worldwide mobile data plans. For this functionality, you need to update to iOS 12.1 update which Apple rolled out last week. Users can complete the process of eSIM conversion from GigSky app.  The company, in order to celebrate the occasion, is offering 50% off your first, 1-day data plan. Simply enter code ESIM123 when you create your GigSky account. To remind you, Apple has flipped the switch for eSIM with the iOS 12.1 update, but it is still carrier dependent. The eSIM eliminates the need to use a physical SIM giving users the ability to use dual SIMs (one eSIM and one physical). Plans with GigSky start at $10. Download the GigSky app for iOS from the AppStore. The release notes of the GigSky app reads: Support for eSIM on iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR. UI improvements and Bug fixes. The company commenting on the same said: You can use iPhone's built-in eSIM to purchase a GigSky data plan in over 190 countries. It's super easy to use and great for travel – just update to iOS 12.1, download the GigSky app, and select your plan of choice.  To ...

Google Photos update hints at restoring backups while charging, guidance for backup conditions

Google Photos has gained a new update which doesn't bring any major changes to the surface. However, a teardown reveals that there might be a new informative boxes coming that can explain why backups aren't running, and the ability to backup only when charging the phone might be making a return.  Considering at how inappropriate Photos app is in performing backups, Google Photos team which for some reason removed the ability to backup photos during charging looks to have decided to undo the feature. The setting might appear in the "Back up & sync" settings, but it's not actually part of the layout for that page or any other. However, it is used in code and will only be shown when the right conditions are met. Whatever may be the reasons, the string related to the backup while charging is a good sign that users will be getting at some point. Google Photos often do things in the background depending on the situations and for the sake of letting users know a bit more about this and give some guidance in the process. A couple of more widgets similar to the Backup Complete box are going to be added. There are two new additions. The ...

Samsung showcases foldable phone with 7.3-inch inner and 4.6-inch outer display

Samsung, as expected, has finally showcased its foldable display at its developer's conference in San Francisco. The company has provided the details like screen resolution that are needed for developing a foldable smartphone to developers.  Samsung’s foldable device sports a 7.3-inch display when it’s open to offer a tablet-like viewing experience and when folded, it sports a 4.6-inch display on the outside. The outer 4.6-inch display packs a 21:9 aspect ratio, 840 x 1960 resolution, 420 PPI, and the 7.3-inch display come with 1536 x 2152 pixels and the same pixel density. Google already announced support for flexible displays, so apps will use the outer display will expand to occupy the 7.3-inch main display when the device is unfolded, and users will also have the option to use three apps in tablet mode. "Since glass is not pliable, we developed a new maerial for the cover window that's flexible and durable. And to ensure the reliability of the display, we found a unique adhesive that enhances the display's elasticity and keeps its strength even when ifs folded and unfolded over and over again," said Samsung. However, Samsung isn't revealing the entire spec sheet of the foldable tech. The company didn't showcase the device fully just ...

Apple Clips update brings six new Selfie Scenes, three new filters and much more

Apple's Clips app gets a new update that brings more great content for video creation. The new version of Clips adds six Selfie Scenes. The Selfie Scenes use the TrueDepth camera system to allow users to record themselves against immersive, animated backdrops including a beautiful rainforest, a mad scientist’s lab and even an action-packed scene from Disney Pixar’s Incredibles 2. The Selfie Scenes tap takes advantage of the Neural Engine on the A12 Bionic chip to deliver incredible portrait segmentation during preview and recording. Clips also get three new filters including a black-and-white comic book, monochrome watercolor painting, and aged film. New posters let users create great-looking title cards for their videos with themes like science, sports, and a silent movie, as well as animated posters from Disney Pixar’s Incredibles 2 and Coco. New stickers and text labels let users add emphasis and fun annotations to videos. Clips 2.0.5 is available today as a free update on the App Store and is compatible with iPhone 5s, iPad Air and iPad mini 2 and later models running iOS 11.1 and later. Style transfer effects require iPhone 7 or 2017 iPad Pro and later. Selfie Scenes require iPhone or iPad Pro with a TrueDepth camera. Source

Federal Trade Commission rules Qualcomm must license its modem patents to competitors

The U.S. federal court in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which monitors acts of commerce, ruled against Qualcomm over the alleged anti-competitive practices and abuse of FRAND patents. This means that Qualcomm must license its modem patents to competitors. The motion was strongly supported by the rest of the industry and potentially weakens its stranglehold on the market. The ruling came out of a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit against Qualcomm, which was filed near the start of 2017. The key highlight of the ruling is whether Qualcomm has to license standard-essential patents to competitors and the court has ruled that it should do. Until now, Qualcomm has only offered licenses to companies that directly manufacture smartphones. Qualcomm seems to have done that only when it was directly selling the chips to them. This means that companies like Intel which is badly trying to compete with Qualcomm had to work around Qualcomm's patents to sell its modems of its own and brands like Apple and Samsung also had to play by Qualcomm to sell its smartphones. This is definitely bad news for Qualcomm and a sign of relief for rest of the industry. What doesn't change with this ruling is how much Qualcomm charges for those ...

Samsung finally opens up Bixby developer studio to developers

At Samsung Developer Conference 2018, Samsung is opening Bixby Developer Studio, an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), to developers. It offers access to the same development tools Samsung’s internal developers used to create Bixby Capsules. This move is in line with Samsung's approach towards AI and with a goal of building a scalable open AI platform where developers and service providers can access tools to bring Bixby to more people and devices around the world. This collection of tools provide an intuitive way for developers and partners to infuse intelligence into more services and devices. Developers will be able to create Bixby Capsules features or services created for Bixby and make them easily accessible to consumers in the Bixby Marketplace. The Bixby platform will allow developers to easily adapt their capsules from mobile phones and televisions to home appliances and other products across the Samsung ecosystem. Samsung is also expanding support to five new languages in the coming months, including British English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. It is available in more than 200 markets around the world. Samsung is now making it faster and easier for developers to connect their devices and services to the SmartThings platform with a new suite of tools in the redesigned SmartThings Developer ...

Samsung introduces Infinity Flex for foldable smartphone and One UI mobile experiences

Samsung Electronics has introduced new developer tools for its Bixby and SmartThings platforms, as well as new, powerful mobile experiences with One UI and Infinity Flex Display. Samsung is making it easier for developers and partners to quickly build, launch and scale new experiences to millions of devices around the world. Samsung's new and intuitive interface design called One UI; a minimal design keeps the most relevant content on the bottom half of the screen – making it more natural and comfortable for one-handed use. The experience was re-engineered to reduce clutter and distractions, allowing the user to better focus and quickly navigate their phone. Thanks to the foldable phone; the Infinity Flex Display together with One UI to deliver new user experience. In addition, users can browse, watch, connect and multitask without losing a beat, simultaneously using three active apps on the larger display. The company is offering One UI beta giving users a chance to try it before the official release. The program is available for participants in China, France, Germany, India, Poland, South Korea, Spain, UK, and the USA. To try out One UI, download the Samsung Members application from Galaxy Apps or the Google Play Store. After logging in, go to Notices and ...

Google adds support for foldable screens; finally starts testing in-app Updates API

At the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, Google has announced support for a foldable smartphone as Android manufacturers are gearing up to launch this new flexible display technology as early as 2019. There are two variants; two-screen devices and one-screen devices. When folded, foldable smartphones resemble a phone that fits in your pockets and when unfolded, it becomes a tablet which it calls screen continuity. As you unfold, the app seamlessly transfers to the bigger screen without missing a beat. Google is optimizing Android for this new form factor. On another note, JetBrains released the latest version of Kotlin, 1.3, which brings new language features, APIs, bug fixes, and performance improvements including Inline classes which allow you to create a type which doesn't allocate unless boxed. Unsigned numbers, Multiplatform code is previously written for Android or the JVM can now also target Javascript or native. This unlocks the possibility of reusing parts of your codebase on even more platforms. Coroutines support is now stable. All of these new features of Kotlin 1.3 will be integrated into the Kotlin-specific APIs a majority of which is through KTX extensions as part of Jetpack. At I/O this year Google introduced Slices, a new way to bring users to your app. ...

Samsung teases Infinity U, V and O notch displays, notchless ‘New Infinity’ display

At the Samsung Developer Conference (SDC) in San Francisco the company has confirmed that notches are coming to its smartphones. Hassan Anjum, Director of Product Marketing, Samsung when talking about the evolution of the displays on its smartphones confirmed that the company has started testing notches on its displays. These include Infinity-U that looks like the one in the Sharp phones and the Essential phones, Infiniy-V which looks similar, but in a 'V shaped' design, and the Infinity-O that is circular, however the notch is moved to the left corner much lower than the status bar. The final display design is called the 'New Infinity' display without notches, which is probably the one that is teased at the 2018 Samsung OLED Forum recently. This will feature in-display front camera, sensors and the in-display fingerprint sensor and use screen sound. Since these are still in concept stages, Samsung will reveal more details in the future.