Andorid 7.0 update confirmed for these Sony and Motorola devices

It's been more than a month since Google officially released Android 7.0 Nougat and still not many devices have received the update. Android Nougat was nowhere to be seen in Google Android OS version distribution earlier this month.

Interestingly, Sony accidentally revealed the Android N updated schedule yesterday in a leaked presentation. As per the slide, Android Nougat will first be rolled out for Sony Xperia X Performance andXperia XZ which would happen sometime in October. Next up line will be the Xperia X and Xperia X Compact which would receive the update in November. Later this year in December, Sony Xperia Z5 series, Z3+ and Z4 tablet will taste the latest Android version. And lastly in early 2017, the Xperia XA & Ultra will receive the update in fourth update cycle.

To our surprise, Sony Xperia E5 which was launched in May this year was not in the list. Also the Xperia Z4 and Z4v, which were company's last year flagships, were not there in the list either. Hopefully, these devices will get Android 7.0 update eventually.

Meanwhile, a few Motorola devices are also confirmed to get the update, as reported by Droid Life. These include company's this year flagship Moto Z, Moto Z Force and Moto Z Play. Further, the budget oriented Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus will also get the Nougat update. Though the exact time frame of the roll out hasn't been revealed, it is likely to happen in Q4 2016.

Apart from this, Google is all set to launch a bunch of devices and services next week on October 4. Apart from the Pixel devices which would come with Android 7.1, a new Operating System named Andromeda is likely to be unveiled. For those who don't know, Andromeda is essentially an OS based on both Chrome OS and Android. It's been 8 years since Android was officially released. Will Andromeda follow the success pattern of Android? Stay Tuned.

LeEco has announced a new experiential price of Rs 17,999 for its flagship Le Max2. The regular price of Le Max2 is Rs 22,999.

The Global internet and technology conglomerate, LeEco has announced a new experiential price of Rs 17,999 for its flagship Le Max2. The regular price of Le Max2 is Rs 22,999 and it is currently being offered at a whopping Rs 5,000 discount. The Superphone will be available for this not-to-be missed price only during the festive sales. LeEco's own ecommerce marketplace LeMall.com is offering users an additional twist, which makes Le Max2 an even more compelling buy. On September 30th (a day prior to the sale), LeMall is opening a limited period offer, where the first 2000 customers can claim a discount coupon worth an additional Rs 1,000.

To get this coupon, users will have to login on LeMall.com on September 30 at 12 noon and claim it. This coupon can be applied during the sale days, which are from October 1-6, 2016, giving them a further Rs 1,000 off on the offer price.

Le Max2 comes with superlative specs that include a gorgeous 5.7-inch 2K display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor with 4GB of RAM and 32GB ROM. All this ensures an outstanding performance and a completely smooth performance. For the camera lovers, the phone packs in a stunning 21-megapixel rear camera equipped with aperture f/2.0, optical image stabilization (OIS) and 4K video recording capabilities.

LeEco's flagship Le Max2 has been to be definitive trend-setter and to get this phone at a never before price, don't forget to head to LeMall on September 30 and have a chance to grab your coupon for an additional Rs 1,000 off!

BlackBerry to stop making phones, to focus on software

Canadian smartphone maker, BlackBerry has decided to stop making mobile phones as it is witnessing a decline in sales for some years.

BlackBerry's CEO John Chen in a statement said, "The company plans to end all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to partners. This allows us to reduce capital requirements and enhance return on invested capital."

"BlackBerry will focus on providing state-of-the-art security and device software," Chen added.

The decision of BlackBerry was long expected as the company is seeing a decline of mobile phone business for quite some time, despite adopting several tactics. Once known for its keypad based phones, the company jumped to full touch screen based devices and had even adopted Android OS, over its BlackBerry OS.

But despite that it reportedly sold around 4 lakh devices in the recent quarter against 5 lakh devices in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, BlackBerry is trying to position it as a software company. It has now announced a new joint venture, BB Merah Putih, to licence software and services for the production of devices targeting Indonesia. The venture is led by Tiphone Mobile Indonesia, which is said to have the largest distribution network in Indonesia. As per BlackBerry, it will have no role in BB Merah Putih other than licensing.

"Under the new device-software licensing agreement, BB Merah Putih will have full access to the BlackBerry experience, which includes the trusted BlackBerry for Android secure software and the Hub unified communications software, for the production of new devices in Indonesia," Ralph Pini, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager, Mobility Solutions, at BlackBerry, said in a blog post.

OnePlus X finally gets Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update starting today

Earlier today we brought you news that the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update for the OnePlus X was almost ready for primetime, and it would land next week. Well, the Chinese company has decided to best that promise (if not by much) and has released the over-the-air update today.

As usual with OnePlus OTA rollouts however, it will take several weeks for all devices to receive the notification, it being an incremental distribution and all. The good news is that it's finally on the way, almost one full year after Google made Marshmallow official.

The new Android build arrives as part of OxygenOS 3.1.2, which you can update to directly if your OnePlus X is currently running versions 2.2.3, 3.1.0, or 3.1.1. Aside from the new Android base, this release also has new icon packs for the launcher, Google search bar UI customization, a new design for the wallpaper picker, and new settings for the Alert Slider. In Shelf, you can long press boards to rearrange or remove, and two new built-in apps will show up - OnePlus Music Player and OnePlus Gallery.

As you'd expect, some unnamed bug fixes and general system performance improvements have been baked in too, alongside the October security patches. There is even a known issue to keep in mind: for the Facebook and Facebook Messenger apps, you need to go and manually grant them permission to access storage, or they will crash while using the phone's camera.

Apple iPhone 7 preordering starts today on Flipkart

Apple is all set to launch iPhone 7 in India on October 7 and if you want to get the device as soon as possible, then here is a good news for you. Flipkart today is all set to start taking pre-orders for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Apple's new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus is also available for pre-booking from stores such as iWorld and Unicorn. You can also prebook the phones from Apple India's website. According to reports, on Flipkart the pre-ordering for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will begin from today at 23:59 pm onwards.

There is a separate section on Flipkart for iPhone 7 and unlike iWorld and Unicorn, Flipkart will charge you the full payment in order to book the new iPhones. The new iPhones are priced Rs 60,000 onwards, at which you will get an iPhone 7 32GB. The iPhone 7 128GB will be priced at Rs 70,000 and iPhone 7 256GB will be priced at Rs 80,000. Coming to the bigger variant, iPhone 7 Plus 32GB will sell at Rs 72,000 and its 128GB and 256GB will be sold at Rs 82,000 and Rs 92,000 respectively.

The new iPhones come in two new colour variants - Jet Black and Matte Black. As it was rumoured there is no headphone jack, instead Apple provides a pair of lightning earphones. Also, Apple is also providing a Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter. The new iPhone also come with improved camera with the Plus variant having a Dual-Camera set up. The design is essentially the same as iPhone 6 or 6s. The front home button is now touch sensitive button just like we saw on MacBook Air. Apple also claims that the new A10 Fusion chipset is fast as well as intelligent. Apart from this, Apple also launched the new wireless Airpods, which apple claims is the future of music listening. The new Airpods were launched at a price of $159 and it's India launch is still not confirmed.

OnePlus 3 Soft Gold variant set to arrive in India on October 1st

Earlier, OnePlus had announced to launch the Soft Gold color model of OnePlus 3 in India in the first week of October. Now company has revealed that the Soft Gold OnePlus 3 smartphone will go on sale In India on October 1 on Amazon India. The company has announced this through its social media platforms.

The OnePlus 3 smartphone was launched in India for Rs 27,999 and as of now only the graphite colour model is available. The soft gold variant of OnePlus 3 will also retail at Rs 27,999.

Earlier company revealed that, like the Graphite model, the Soft Gold edition will also come bundled with Rs 500 worth Amazon Kindle credits, 12 months of double data on pre-paid and postpaid connections from Idea Cellular, and 12 months of OnePlus Care complimentary accidental damage protection courtesy Servify.

The OnePlus 3 has a 5.5 inch Optic AMOLED capacitive touchscreen that has full HD resolution. Just below the screen lies a home button which also acts as a fingerprint sensor. It has Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow operating system based Oxygen OS. The OnePlus 3 has the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 quad core processor, Adreno 530 GPU and huge 6 GB RAM.

There is a 3000 mAh Li-Po non-removable battery which has state-of-the-art Dash Charge technology that claims to replenish over 60 per cent of the battery within 30 minutes. OnePlus 3 boasts a 16 megapixel rear camera with f2.0 aperture, 1.12 µm Pixels, phase detection auto focus feature and Optical Image Stabilisation. An 8 megapixel camera is there in its front for selfies.

The all-metal OnePlus 3 is just 7.3 mm thin and comes with an alert slider key as well. Besides, it has dual SIM, GPS, WiFi, WiFi Hotspot, Bluetooth, Hall sensor, Accelerometor, Gyroscope, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, and eCompass.

Redmi Note 3 now the best selling smartphone of India, claims Xiaomi

Xiaomi has claimed to have sold about 2.3 million units of Redmi Note 3 so far and thus making it the best selling smartphone in India. Further, boasting about this achievement Xiaomi claims that every 7 seconds aRedmi Note 3 is sold in India. Moreover, one of every nine smartphones shipped in India is a Redmi Note 3, claimed Xiaomi.

Redmi Note 3 was launched back in March 2016 with 5.5 inch 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution display and 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 processor. It has two models - one with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage and another has 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. For photography, there is a 16 megapixel rear camera coupled with a 5 megapixel front camera. To power all this, it has a massive 4050 mAh battery.

As per last month's report, Xiaomi sold around 1.75 million units of the device and Q2 IDC reportsuggested that around 880,000 were sold by the Chinese handset manufacturer in Q2 2016.

As a gesture to celebrate this feat, Xiaomi is hosting a contest wherein one has to type a given sentence within 7 seconds to win a Redmi Note 3 or coupons from Xiaomi. A user gets 3 chances per day to type the sentence till this Thursday. However, you can increase the number of chances by sharing Xiaomi's post on Facebook through which one will get 3 more chances each time he/she shares it up to the maximum of two times. So that makes a total of 9 chances a day.

Given the specifications and the price of just Rs 9,999 for the 2 GB model (Rs 11,999 for 3 GB model), Redmi Note 3 is certainly quite an attractive phone. If you own a Redmi Note 3, let us know about your experience using the smartphone so far.

Samsung Galaxy On8 to come with 3GB RAM and huge battery

Samsung is expected to launch the Samsung Galaxy On8 duringFlipkart's Big Billion Day event, which is scheduled to take place from 2nd to 6th October.

Flipkart has also created the product page for the upcoming On series smartphone as per which the device will have Super AMOLED full HD display. Now today we found the product page is updated with new information that says the smartphone will come with 3GB of RAM and will have a long lasting battery.

Last week, Samsung launched the Galaxy On7 (2016) model in China. The Samsung Galaxy On7 2016 has a price tag of 1599 yuan (approximately Rs 16,035). Alongside Galaxy On7 (2016), Samsung has also teased the Galaxy On5 (2016) but has not revealed its price. As per a teaser, the Galaxy On5 (2016) will come with Snapdragon 617 chipset with octa-core 1.5 GHz processor. Samsung has not revealed anything about it.

On the other hand, the Galaxy On7 2016 has a 5.5-inch display with full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution. It has the 2 GHz octa-core Snapdragon 625 processor and Adreno 506 GPU. The phone has 3GB RAM, 32GB internal memory, 128GB expandable memory slot, Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow operating system and a 3,300 mAh battery with fast charging facility. The smartphone comes in a full metal unibody and has a home button-embedded fingerprint sensor.

The Samsung Galaxy On7 2016 offers a 13-megapixel rear camera which has f/1.9 aperture. An LED flash light is in its back while an 8-megapixel selfie camera with f/1.9 aperture is in its front. On the connectivity front, the device offers Hybrid Dual SIM, 4G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS. The handset measures 151.7 x 75 x 8 mm and weighs 167 grams.

Samsung Note 7, Apple iPhone 7 to be launched in India on the same day?

Samsung is reportedly planning to launch its Galaxy Note 7 in India on the same day when Apple will launch its iPhone 7 in India – October 7.

Samsung unveiled the Note 7 on August 3 and it received good reviews after its launch in several counties. But soon a grave manufacturing defect was found in Note 7 following incidents of blasts during charging reported from various parts of the world. Many airlines had banned flyers from using the phone on board as well and Samsung was forced to recall the phone and deferred its launch in many counties including India.

It was a big setback for Samsung but now the South Korean handset maker seems to be trying hard to make up for the lost ground. In India, the best thing Samsung could do is to launch the Note 7 before or on the same day of launch of Apple iPhone 7.

And as per reports, Samsung could price Note 7 very aggressively to gain consumers attention.

However, these are just speculations. Samsung is yet to announce anything about the Note 7's launch in India.

Specification

The Galaxy Note 7 will be available with Octa-Core Exynos 8890 (quad 2.3GHz + quad 1.6GHz) processor in all markets except USA where it will be available with Quad Core Snapdragon 820 processor. However, both versions have 4GB RAM. The smartphone comes preinstalled with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow operating system with the latest TouchWiz UI on top and a 3500 mAh battery with fast charging technology on both wired and wireless charging modes. It has a USB Type C port.

The Galaxy Note 7 has 64 GB of internal storage and you can use a micro SD card of up to 256 GB in its expandable storage slot. Note that it has a hybrid dual SIM slot which means if you use a micro SD card, you have to forgo the SIM2.

It has a fingerprint sensor as well as an Iris scanner. Besides, the phablet offers Samsung's Knox security app. Apart from this, the device also features barometer, gyro, geomagnetic, proximity, and ambient light sensors.

The smartphone boasts a 12-megapixel autofocus rear camera that comes with dual pixel technology, LED flash, PDAF, optical image stabilisation, and f/1.7 aperture. A 5-megapixel front facing camera with f/1.7 aperture is there in the Note 7 for selfies and video calling. On the connectivity front, the device offers 4G, Bluetooth 4.2, WiFi (802.11 b/g/n), GPS with AGS/GLONASS, NFC and USB type C. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 measures 153.5 x 73.9 x 7.9mm and it weighs 169 grams.

Lava A56 with 5-inch display, 5MP rear camera launched at Rs 4,199

Lava has silently launched a smartphone called Lava A56. The phone has a price tag of Rs 4,199 and comes in Black and White colours. The phone is listed on its official website with full specifications and price.

The Lava A56 has a 5-inch (854 x 480 pixels) FWVGA display, thereby offering pixel density of 196 ppi. It is powered by a 1.3 GHz dual-core processor which is clubbed with 512MB RAM. The smartphone runs on an older Android 4.4 KitKat operating system.

The Lava A56 comes with 4GB of internal storage, which is expandable by up to 32GB via micro SD card. On the camera front it has an 5-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash, Digital Zoom, HDR, Photo Timer, Grid and a VGA front-facing camera for selfies and video calling.

The smartphone is powered by a 1850 mAh Li-ion removable battery. Besides, the smartphone offers Dual SIM, 2G, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, FM Radio, 3.5mm jack, USB 2.0, Accelerometer and additional features like ATorch, Sound Recorder. The handset measures 147 x 72.2 x 9.9mm.

500,000 safe Galaxy Note7 units arrive in the US

Even if you don’t follow tech, the chances are, you’ve heard a thing or two about the self-combusting Galaxy Note7. Shortly after its launch in mid-August, reports about the Note7 exploding and causing damage started to trickle in; before we knew it, Samsung launched an official recall program, including in the US. The whole process has been rather confusing with different procedures and programs in each country, but Note7 owners in the US will be happy to learn that 500,000 safe Galaxy Note7 units have finally arrived in the US.

The past few weeks have been hectic for Samsung, I would imagine. And it’s been hectic for Galaxy Note7 users around the world as well. In the US, Samsung has urged current Note7 users to return their devices and wait for new units to arrive, but things haven’t really been smooth. Though Samsung claimed that Note7 users would get the Galaxy J as a loaner phone, users have complained that in reality, carriers often did not have loaner devices ready in stock or were simply unaware of the program.

To add to this chaos, both FedEx and UPS have refused to ship Note7 units back to Samsung due to safety concerns. It makes sense since one single unit that its user has forgotten to power off could mean a potential fire hazard. This meant users had to walk into a carrier store and turn it in themselves. But as data have suggested, many users were unwilling to do that until new units were available.

Well, Samsung is now saying that 500,000 safe Note7 devices have been distributed across the US, so in the next few days, you can go to a store near you and see if they have new units in stock. Mind you, Samsung has sold a total of one million Galaxy Note7 units in the US that all need to be replaced but so far has only provided 500,000 safe units. That means you are only guaranteed to be able to exchange it on the condition that stores around you are stocked with new Note7 units.

The safe units will come in a box with a black square marking, and you will also see a green battery indicator on the status bar instead of a white one. Be sure to let us know in the comments if you get your hands on a safe Note7 unit in the coming days!

HTC announces Desire 10 Pro and HTC Desire 10 Lifestyle

As expected, HTC today unveiled HTC Desire 10 Pro and HTC Desire 10 Lifestyle smartphones. Both the smartphones come in Black, White, Navy Blue and Baby Blue color variants. The company has not revealed their prices though. The HTC Desire 10 Pro will be available in October while the Desire 10 Lifestyle will be available later this month.

HTC Desire 10 Pro has a 5.5-inch full HD (1920x1080 pixels) IPS display with 400ppi pixel density and is equipped with an octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor, which is clubbed with 4 GB of RAM. HTC Desire 10 features HTC BoomSound stereo speakers on the front, which is complemented by Dolby Audio as well.

The smartphone comes with a 20 megapixel rear camera with LED flash, BSI sensor, laser autofocus ƒ/2.2 aperture and 27.8mm focal length, Auto HDR mode, Panorama mode, Continuous shooting. For selfies, it comes with a 13 megapixel front camera. The HTC Desire 10 comes with 64 GB in-built storage which can be expanded through a micro SD card to upto 2TB. This Android 6.0 Marshmallow based smartphone has HTC's Sense UI on top and a 3,000 mAh battery with power saving mode which is said to offer upto 19 hours of talk time and 20 days of standby time on 3G network. The device also features a fingerprint sensor on the back.

For connectivity the Desire 10 Pro dual SIM offers 4G, WiFi, GPS/AGPS + GLONASS, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC 3.5 mm stereo audio jack and micro-USB 2.0. It comes with Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, Compass sensor, Sensor Hub and Motion G-sensor. The phone measures 156.5 x 76 x 7.86 mm and weighs around 165 grams.

On the other hand, HTC Desire 10 Lifestyle comes with a 5.5-inch HD (1280 x 720 pixels) screen. It boasts a 1.6 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor and 3GB RAM. The smartphone runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system and is powered by a 2700 mAh battery which is said to offer upto 24 hours of talk time and 28 days of standby time on 3G network.

The Desire 10 Lifestyle offers 32GB internal storage of internal storage, which can be further expandable up-to 2TB via micro SD card. The smartphone has a 13-megapixel rear camera with an LED flash, Autofocus, BSI sensor, ƒ/2.2 aperture and 28mm focal length, HDR mode, Video Pic, Panorama mode and Continuous shooting. There is a 5-meagpixel shooter in its front for selfies and video calling. For connectivity, there is dual sim, 4G, WiFi (802.11 b/g/n) dual-band, WiFi direct, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS -AGPS/ GLONASS, and a micro USB 2.0 in the phone. The handset measures 156.9 x 76.9 x 7.7 mm and weighs 155 grams. The smartphone also offers HTC BoomSound with dual microphone for noise-cancellation. The sensors include Ambient Light, Proximity, Compass and Motion G Sensor.